Queer Books Weekly

Weekly List of Books of All Genres Featuring Queer Protagonists at Free or Nearly Free Prices Every Tuesday

No fools here, today! Just fab deals!


✨ Book of The Week ✨

Only Mostly Dead

Cover for Only Mostly Dead. A pale blue and purple gradient of illustrated skulls in the background with a foreground showing a city skyline framed in illustrations of skeleton hands, filing cabinets, a scythe, hourglasses, and a video game console.

Series: Afterlife Incorporated

Alli Temple

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Paranormal

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Lesbian, Non-binary, Pansexual

No one tells you how much paperwork there is after you die. I expected to wake up on a cloud where angels played harps and fed me grapes. Instead, I’m a ghost stuck in suburban Toronto. The only one who can see me is an unemployed grim reaper who'd rather play video games. Turns out the business of dying is a train wreck. But if there was ever a girl boss who could get it back on track, it’s me. All I need is a little help from my new roommate, whether they want to be involved or not. Nothing at Afterlife Incorporated moves quickly and if I don’t find a way out soon there won’t be anything left of me to cross over. They say death can be easy, but being only mostly dead sucks.

Discounted Price: $0.99 || Regular Price: $5.99

Amazon || Kobo || Apple || Google Play || B&N

Promo graphic for Only Mostly Dead. The cover is shown against a dark background splattered with purple liquids with text that reads "It's on sale" over a scythe.

Also By Alli Temple: Uncharted

The Pirate & Her Princess

Come sail away with Princess Georgina, Captain Cinder and the crew of the Crimson Siren in this sapphic fantasy adventure!


Bundle Corner – Tons of books, one low price.

Xine Fury: The Complete Collection

Xine Fury is a transgender author who focuses on LGBTQIA-friendly sci-fi and fantasy. This is a collection of all of Xine Fury's novels (so far).

Notable Works:

  • Bloodhunters volumes 1-3
  • Geek Cutes
  • Rainbow Nightmares
  • Gender Rolls
  • Nomads of Zyden

Snag for $15 on Itchio

Promotional Graphic for Xine Fury Bundle showing several shimmering table top dice of various sizes on a tile surface.


Queer Vampires Bundle

All four of my vampire books, all queer!

Notable Works

  • There's Always a Morning
  • Whispers in the Dark
  • Life Remains Bleeding Gold

Snag on Itchio for $9.99, a discount of 54%

Promo graphic for 4 Queer Vampire Novels, showing the covers for each book, all displaying pale vampires with stylistic text.


ARC Corner in QBW – Free books before they are released!

The Killing Song

Cover for The Killing Song. A bright skull is caught in a tangle of vines against a watery background.

Felix Graves

Fantasy, Horror

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation: Achillean, Gay, Lesbian, Queer, Sapphic, Trans masc, Asexual, Agender, Nonbinary, Aromantic, Pansexual, Butch

Romada, a fiercely independent water nymph who captains the pirate vessel the Guardian, is looking forward to retirement. After sailing the seas for over 50 years with her siren girlfriend, Neiara, as well as with her adoptive big brother, Injago, for the five decades prior, she's tired of the high-stakes life. Unfortunately, the high-stakes life isn't done with her or her loved ones yet. When the crown prince of Ostrana is assassinated by a siren, the elven kingdom responds by rounding up every known siren and shipping them off to internment camps. Soon after, Injago and Romada mistakenly lead Neiara into a trap that tears her away from them, and Romada succumbs to a depressive darkness that has threatened her mind since childhood. It's up to Injago to keep the crew and the ship safe and steady on the path to finding and rescuing Neiara. As time goes on, Romada and Injago realize that no one else is willing to find and liberate these camps. They have a choice to make. They can attempt to free all sirens of their wrongful imprisonment, or abandon these lost souls in reckless pursuit of their stolen family member. Only one thing is certain: this won't have a happy ending.

Request on Book Sirens


Thank you for another great week of queer lit! If you are an author yourself, we just uponed up submissions for our Agender Pride event and our Pansexual and Panromantic Pride event in May. Make sure to check our book page for more details so your book can be included!

The year continues on but queer lit never stops! Here are a few of the awesome books released this month!


Blue, like don't forget about me

Series: Wildflowers of Deliverance

Cover for Blue, like don't forget about me. A blurry image of a man sitting on the edge of a cliff overlooking a forest.

Sarah B. Elisa

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Romance, Contemporary

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation Gay, Bi, Aromantic, Asexual

Theodore Spinoza is angry twenty years after Nash thought he saw him for the last time. Considering the funeral and the broken promises looming between them—rot-riddled and long past fixing—the animosity isn't surprising, but it seems nobody clued Teddy in on the ruined state of things. Or maybe they did and he blew past the warning signs same as when they were kids, all stupid determination and unbridled confidence. Nash should know better than to get caught up in him again after how things ended, but Teddy's storm winds stir fresh vitality into his stagnant life and the tempest tastes like a second shot at something special.

Regular Price $4.99

Multiple Retailers

Release Date: 2025-03-26

Content Warnings: Sexual content (brief but there!)

 


 

Nomads of Zyden

Cover for Nomads of Zyden. A woman in chainmail holds a sword in front of her, a helmet tucked under her arm. Behind her, a snowy mountain looms ominously.

Xine Fury

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Fantasy, Romance

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation: Lesbian, Non-Binary, Transgender Man

When a tribe of ghoulish monsters wipes out her mountain clan, a fierce warrior named Marta sets out on a mission of revenge. But while she grew up fighting giant beasts in the frigid wastelands, she isn’t prepared for the culture shock of meeting people from the lowlands. During her epic journey she befriends a jester, a fairy, and a woman with whom she shares a magical bond. Together they take on a much larger quest in which they must explore ancient temples and fight ruthless monsters, all to retrieve a set of artifacts that will help them defeat an all-powerful evil. Their time is short and the fate of the world hangs in the balance.

Regular Price: 4.99

Itchio || Multiple Retailers

Release Date: 2025-03-05

Content Warnings:

Violence


We Interrupt This Transition

Cover for We Interrupt this Transition a queer comedy. An old CRT television with dials sitting against a red backdrop. Dailies are sprouding from the television.

Kerry Ann Boyko

Contemporary

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Lesbian, Questioning, Trans fem, Gay, Asexual, Agender, Genderfluid

A reality show so exploitative, it was never supposed to happen. British showrunner Sam Culver and semi-retired game show host Jimmy Howard pitch their latest project to the Garden Alpha streaming service. To make their real proposal look good, they throw in a deliberately outrageous idea: Woman Up!, a reality show where cisgender men compete to transition for a million-dollar prize. They never expected executive Daria Bryant to say yes. Now, Sam and Jimmy are stuck producing the most controversial reality show of the decade—dodging scandals, wrangling contestants, and desperately trying to keep their careers intact. We Interrupt This Transition is a sharp-witted queer comedy that skewers the absurdity of reality TV, media exploitation, and gender politics. It's a book for trans readers who love to laugh—and for anyone who enjoys biting satire.

Regular Price: $7.00

Itchio || Amazon

Release Date: 2025-03-01

Content Warnings:

It uses the F-word. There's also some transphobia.

 


Flesh and Bone

Cover for Flesh and Bone. Silhouette of two men on horses riding against the shadow of a wolf. Mountains loom in the distance.

Arden Powell

Subscribe to Arden Powell’s newsletter and recieve bonus epilogues or join the Patreon for even more!

Horror, Romance, Historical, Paranormal

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

Representation: Achillean

A short mm horror-romance novella set in the Canadian Wild West of 1889. One month ago, Everett did something unforgivable. Now, he and his partner Marshall are paying the price. As they drive their cattle west to a ranch in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, something stalks them under the light of the full moon. Haunted by a lifetime of shame, Everett’s guilt over what he did with Marshall is coming to eat him alive. Equally dangerous is the monster following him, which will sink its teeth into anything and anyone. After it gores Everett, he begins to feel that same awful hunger for himself. If Everett wants to survive the night, it's not only the monster he needs to fight. It's his own bloodthirsty urges that want to tear him apart. Worse, they’ll tear Marshall apart just as easily. Marshall would do anything for Everett: his best friend, and the man he has secretly loved for years. Now, he doesn’t just have to save Everett from the creature hunting them. He has to save Everett from himself, and that might mean putting a bullet through Everett’s skull before the man he loves becomes something unrecognizably monstrous.

Regular Price

2.99

Itchio || Amazon || Kobo || Smashwords || B&N

Release Date: 2025-03-26

Content Warnings:

Graphic descriptions of gore and violence, loss of limb, self-harm and self-mutilation including cannibalism, suicide ideation, animal harm to livestock, homophobia including slurs.


13 COUNTY ROAD 666

Series: Trailer Park Cryptid

 A woman in a faded jean jacket stares at two mobile home trailers parked next to each other, both parked in tall and overgrown grass.

C.L. McCollum

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Paranormal, Horror, Cozy, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Romance

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation: Bi, Queer, Sapphic, Lesbian, Trans Fem, Achillean, Non-Binary

It’s the full moon again, and that means Melanie Smithson’s job just got a lot harder. She’s got a demon boss, a drunken werewolf tearing up the place, a long-time crush on her straight trans girl best friend, a toxic witch-with-benefits situation, and brand new interest in the aforementioned drunken werewolf. But Mel’s relationship problems are hardly her worst problems. A stranger appears on the property after a vicious attack by what looks like a rogue werewolf, but may be something even more sinister. Worse yet, one by one, Mel’s tenants turn up possessed and violent, forcing Mel to kill in order to protect herself and her other residents. Mel has to track down the one responsible for all the carnage before she risks losing one or more of the people she cares about. But finding that killer may not save her from a monster much closer to home, and that confrontation may change Mel in ways she could never predict.

Regular Price: $5.99

Discounted Price: $4.99

Direct from Author || Bookshop || Kobo || Amazon

Release Date: 2025-03-06

Content Warnings:

Urban fantasy typical violence and bloodshed; biphobia/transphobia/acephobia from a member of the queer community, depiction of depression, mention of cannibalism, some queer deaths (but largely queer cast so not the single ‘bury your gays’ trope).

 


Community Witch

Cover for Community Witch. Three tarot-like cards show various characters. In the corner is a tea candle, and a black cat's tail swipes across the cards.

Ash Kreider

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Romance, Fantasy, Contemporary

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation: Bi, Non-binary, Trans fem, Ace, Demi

Hallmark, movie – but make it gay and fantasy: Aspen Fahey is a non-binary aspiring community witch and failed witchfluencer living in downtown Toronto. When their aunt dies and leaves them her house and witching practice on beautiful, idyllic Vancouver Island, their life unexpectedly turns into a Lifetime movie: early thirties enby leaves the big city (including their toxic partner and the job they hate) to move to a beautiful small town, has meet cute with beautiful stranger before running into The One That Got Away. But can they navigate the hard work of building healthy relationships while juggling their responsibilities as town witch? Or will the trauma of their ex’s emotional abuse ruin the best thing that’s ever happened to them?

Regular Price: 8.99

Direct from Author || Itchio || Kobo || Smashwords

Release Date: 2025-03-10

Content Warnings:

Discussions of emotionally abusive relationships, anxiety, and on-page depiction of a panic attack


What a great selection of new releases! We’ll be back tomorrow with our weekly deals and steals—we PROMISE no pranks!

Today is Trans Day of Visibility, and even if Google and Apple removed the day from their calendars, we are still celebrating! Today is a day to celebrate the courage of those who came before and the tenacity of those in the present and hope for those in the future.

Today, Queer Books Weekly celebrates by bringing you over two dozen books featuring trans characters!

Community Witch

Cover for Community Witch. Three tarot-style cards are on a table next to a candle with the tail of a black cat over them.

Ash Kreider

Join Ash Kreider’s newsletter!

Romance, Fantasy, Contemporary

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation: Bi, Non-binary, Queer, Trans fem

Aspen Fahey is a non-binary aspiring community witch and failed witchfluencer living in downtown Toronto. When their aunt dies and leaves them her house and witching practice on beautiful, idyllic Vancouver Island, their life unexpectedly turns into a Lifetime movie: early thirties enby leaves the big city (including their toxic partner and the job they hate) to move to a beautiful small town, has meet cute with beautiful stranger before running into The One That Got Away. But can they navigate the hard work of building healthy relationships while juggling their responsibilities as town witch? Or will the trauma of their ex's emotional abuse ruin the best thing that's ever happened to them?

**Price: $**8.99

Multiple Retailers


Complete Vigilauntie Justice series

Four ereaders are displayed, each showing a different cover for a different book in the series. One shows a spool of yarn with a knife under the label, the face of a person with blue hair using a knife to pin their hair bun in place, the third shows a person with sunglasses, and the fourth shows another yarn and knife illustration.

Elliott Hay

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Mystery

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Trans fem, Queer, Lesbian, Pan

Killer grans take on south-east London! What do scammers. serial killers, and tax fraudsters all have in common? They’re all about to fall victim to this quartets of grans. Bringing together two full-length novels and two short stories, this bundle will have you cheering on the killers as they take down those who would prey on their community. Friends in Need (Vigilauntie Justice #0.5) What will these grannies do when murder’s not an option? A Bit of Murder Between Friends (Vigilauntie Justice #1) Every day, Baz, Peggy, Carole, and Madge get together to knit, drink tea, and dole out death to keep the streets of south-east London safe. All Tea, No Shade, and a Bit of Murder (Vigilauntie Justice #2) Murder’s never been such a drag. The Unveiled Lady (Vigilauntie Justice #2.5) What’s a bit of blackmail between friends?

Price: 9.96 (GBP) or 11.96 (EUR/CAD/USD)

Discounted Price: 6.99 (GBP) or 8.99 (EUR/CAD/USD) – additional discount with newsletter signup

Purchase Direct from Author


Starship Teapot series

Four ereaders display booksin the Starship Teapot series. Each shows a teapot-shaped spaceship encountering different things in space, including a person with a dog, an asteroid, and a donut shop.

Si Clarke

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Science Fiction, Cozy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Aromantic, Asexual, Non-binary, Trans fem

Intergalactic kidnappers! A chatty horse! Sentient glitter gas! And a dog! Impending destruction, oppressed minorities, runaway shapeshifters, and greedy carpark attendants … these are just a few of the things Lem and her dog, Spock, face in their new life in space. Four great novels for one low price! This bundle is a must read for fans of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, and Discworld. The Left Hand of Dog (Starship Teapot #1) When Lem and her dog retreat from the city for a few days, they don’t expect to wind up aboard the starship Teapot with adorable alien bounty hunters. Judgement Dave (starship teapot #2) This time, the universe puts the cat in catastrophe… Consider Pegasus (Starship Teapot #3) A secret unicorn, a desperate family, and a cop dead-set on hunting them down. Frozen Heck (Starship Teapot #4) Stranded in deep space ... but at least they have donuts. Packed with preposterous scenarios, quirky characters, and oodles of humour, the Starship Teapot series tackles complex subjects such as gender, the need to belong, and the importance of honest communication. Perfect for fans of Charlie Jane Anders, Becky Chambers, and Martha Wells. This series will show you that the universe is a very strange place indeed.

Regular Price

17.96 GBP or 21.96 (EUR/CAD/USD)

Discounted Price

11.99 GBP or 14.99 (EUR/CAD/USD) – additional discount with signup

Buy Direct from Author


Someone Else's Shoes: FF Cinderella Retelling

Cover for Someone Else's Shoe. A in illustration of a glass show with intricate engravings against a starry sky.

Aldrea Alien

Join Aldrea Alien’s newsletter and get a free short story.

Romance, Fantasy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Lesbian, Sapphic, Trans fem

Stepping out in borrowed shoes has never been so dangerous. Stripped of her inheritance as a child by a greedy stepmother, Alla’s future hovers between drudgery and slavery. Having spent years toiling in the mansion that was once her happy home, tending to her stepmother’s every whim, she has long since put aside any thoughts of a better future. When a chance encounter in the marketplace leaves her with an invitation to the upcoming ball, her only opportunity to play out an old dream of seeing inside the palace walls is by being someone she’s not. A farce that could see her executed or sold. But will she be able to maintain the illusion once she meets Princess Viktoriya?

Regular Price: 99c

Available at multiple retailers


Princess of the Pomegranate Moon

Cover for Princess of the Pomegranate Moon. Illustration shows a woman with blue hair and a flowing outfit floating in the night sky next to the moon. Below her are several mountains with crystals and caves in them.

Emily Wynne

Science Fiction, Fantasy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️

Representation: Bi, Lesbian, Non-binary, Queer, Trans fem, Sapphic, Trans masc

In the Season of Shadows, a silver light is cast by a moon crowned with an ominous rainbow mist—the Pomegranate Moon. A small, fearful village crouches below, hidden in the shadow of a forbidden sacred mountain rumored to be the gate to Faerie. Out of the darkness emerges Elsinore—a dancer in a brightly colored dress and rainbow shawls. While she drums a hypnotic beat and dances with floating flames, the townsfolk watch and wonder over her origin and identity—mysteries Elsinore herself seeks the key to. A hallowed priestess and sorceress, Elsinore has spent a lifetime embracing the woman she has always known herself to be. But deep within, the painful enigma of her youth keeps her shackled to the past, haunted by guilt and grief. Disregarding the whispers and ancient warnings, Elsinore descends into the heart of the Mountain, seeking the final truths of her identity. Will Elsinore uncover what she needs to become whole, or will she lose herself to the Mountain?

Regular Price: $18.99 (paperback), $5.99 (epub)

Purchase Direct from Author || Bookshop.org || Itchio || Philly Aids Thrift Bookstore || Barnes and Noble


Argentum in Aqua

Finn McLellan

Fantasy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

Representation: Achillean, Bi, Asexual, Gay, Lesbian, Queer, Trans masc, Sapphic

All student magician Jonathan Fest wants is to keep his head down and finish out his first year of university without failing his exams too badly. Unfortunately for him, fate and the two secret societies warring in the shadows of the city have other plans. Enter stage left Archer, a gentleman scholar with a past a good deal more chequered than his present would suggest; Sabbat, a thief and assassin whose loyalty to the few people he counts as friends is as unshakeable as his temper is fiery; and Viola, lady’s maid, bodyguard, and surrogate big sister to the only daughter of the most famous family of magicians in Sacaan. Thrown together by a series of unexplained events, the four magicians soon find themselves facing down a cunning adversary and an escalation in the shadow war which could spell disaster not just for them, but for the city as a whole. Penny dreadfuls, it turns out, are a lot less fun when you’re in one. Argentum in Aqua is an ongoing LGBTQ+ gaslamp Gothic fantasy serial (planned as a trilogy, we're currently right at the end of the second book) which you can read for free on my site – you can also download the current draft of the first book from itch.io. Expect vampires, werewolves, magic, rooftop chases, plenty of tea, and a whole lot of swearing.

Regular Price Free!

Direct from Author || Itchio


A Sharper, More Lasting Pain

Cover for a Sharper More Lasting Pain. Two clawed hands reach for each other against a sharp patterned background.

Alex Harvey-Rivas

Fantasy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation: Achillean, Lesbian, Non-binary, Queer, Sapphic, Trans masc,

After their girlfriend’s best friend is wounded in a monster attack, Simone Allard stumbles across a plot much deeper than they anticipated. As they work to find a cure to their own forming illness and find out the truth, one question remains: how was Nadia involved in this? Nadia DuPont doesn’t know how much time she has or even what is ailing her, but it all gets more complex after meeting Simone on a field trip. As they both work to find a cure to her ailment, all Nadia is certain of is she's on the path to ruin.

**Regular Price: $**3.99

**Discounted Price: $**1.99

Itchio || Available at Multiple Retailers


Structural Integrity

Cover for Structural Integrity. Illustrated. Two characters stand before large, ornate double doors, one looking back and extending their hand to the other.

Tabitha O'Connell

Romance, Fantasy, Cozy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

Representation: Achillean, Trans masc, Asexual, Gay

Messenger boy Kel never expected to strike up a romance with a government official. But Yaan lacks the self-important snobbery of the others, seeing Kel as more than just a pretty face. Living with him in the city’s plush government complex is everything Kel could want: no more expenses, kitchen workers and resident animals to befriend, and of course seeing Yaan every day. Even if Yaan does spend most of his time working or worrying about work, and seems to have forgotten that they used to have actual conversations… When the city decides to tear down the iconic theater building in Kel’s old neighborhood, Yaan’s indifference toward his pleas to help save it forces Kel to confront his growing unhappiness. In the aftermath, both will have to decide whether their relationship is salvageable.

Regular Price 0.99

Itchio || Ko-Fi || Amazon || Multiple Retailers


Best Friends' Promise

Cover for Best Friends' Promise. Three characters stand on a runway with lights. One has their arms crossed and is wearing combat boots. One has a hoodie and a skirt. One is in jeans with holes in the knees and green streaks in their hair.

Issy Waldrom

Romance, Paranormal

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Lesbian, Sapphic, Trans fem

What are best friends for, after all? Getting us turned into vampires. Best Friends are forever, are they not? Time spent together, bonds formed, promises made. No matter how fantastical they might seem, how far-fetched. But friendships can change as time takes its toll, and people change. Miyako might be a bit lost in life. She's come out as trans, is studying in the hopes of doing something with her life, and perhaps wishing that things could be different. But Luna is still her best friend, and when she gets invited to go to a concert with her, to see Luna's favourite band and crush, what she doesn't expect is the offer to be turned into a vampire alongside Luna, because she wants her there with her. Of course, there is no way that she was ever going to refuse. Decisions, made on impulse or not, have their consequences. Especially when it means that she's thrown herself into a hidden aspect of society. Sure, she might have the body she'd only been able to dream about, but now she's involved with a wider group of people, has to prove herself to her family, and there is darkness at the edges. And why does she have to have feelings for that one hot vampire who was an absolute bitch to her. Even if she is exactly her type, and perhaps there might be more to it all. A trans, sapphic, new adult vampire romance about the strength of friendship and family, of throwing yourself into something blindly, and of love and all that it comes with.

Regular Price: $6

Itchio || Multiple Retailers


Heart's Claim

Cover for Heart's Claim. Two women stand in each other's embrace, one has horns extending from her forehead. Both are in black clothing.

Issy Waldrom

Fantasy, Romance

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Lesbian, Sapphic, Trans fem

When two worlds touch, for only the briefest of moments, the effect is far more reaching than anyone realises. Especially for two woman for whose contact was just as brief as the event. After a lot of struggle, Elara is finally starting to forge the life that she wants. To write, share her stories, and be accepted for who she is. And find true love. Though that last one seems very much like a dream, something that she pens, but that will never happen to her. Even if the events of the Convergence still haunt her mind. Riley is a dragon, one of those from the other side who was caught up in the Convergence. A rather dominant force, all things considered. While humanity is largely unaware of her existence and oblivious to her true nature, this side is now as much her home as the other. Not that she’s complaining. She’s enjoying this life that she now has. Mostly. Except that fate decides that they should meet again, their lives becoming intertwined in ways that neither of them imagined, and suddenly things start surfacing. Thoughts, desires, dreams. And a growing attraction. Yes, there is chemistry between them. Or is it something more? A claim was made after all... A low angst sapphic shifter romance about learning to follow your heart, of magic, dragons, and two rather different worlds. One just like our own, and the other, of fantasy.

Regular Price: $6

Itchio || Multiple Retailers


Esper and the Witch

Cover for Esper and the witch. A fae creature in white lacey attire and silver-blue eyes looks inquisitive. A gray fox is wrapped around her shoulders.

Issy Waldrom

Mystery, Romance, Paranormal

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

Representation: Lesbian, Sapphic, Trans fem

The world is a dark and terrifying place, even when it is filled with beauty and wonder. At least it seems that way to Alex. Life was simple once, where you could just glide along on its currents, make do and have a sliver of contentment. But now he’s being plagued by a recurring dream, and forced to confront things he’s been avoiding. And that’s ignoring all of the changes. And Esper, well Esper really has no clue at all about what is going on around her. But she’s not going to take the blame for that. An unfamiliar location, strange blue messages, and to top it all, apparently she has just awoken. A sapphic trans and litrpg story of coming to terms with one’s self, friendship, and discovering what’s around you, with a backdrop of the modern world and hidden magic.

**Regular Price: $**5

Itchio || Multiple Retailers


What Lies Within

Cover for What Lies Within. Two characters stand back to back in an open field, a fox t their feet. In the background, a city skyline stretches across the horizon.

Issy Waldrom

Fantasy, Romance

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Bi, Pansexual, Trans fem, Other

Life is not easy. Even if, on the surface, it seems that way. Fraser has magic, and is part of the esteemed Guardians of Humanity. He is a member of one of the founding families of said Guardians, and an elite spellsword, trained and deadly. He even has a best friend, whom he’s known for most of his life, who has always been there with him. But beneath all of that, Fraser’s life is a mess. He’s lost access to his magic, his parents are controlling and domineering, wanting him to be someone that he knows he is not. And worst of all, he knows that what they have planned for him, he is completely against. It doesn’t help that he doesn’t know what he wants either. Who he truly is. This is Fraser’s story. A trans tale of self discovery, of romance and learning the depth of relationships, of fighting for your place in the world, and perhaps even the truth behind the origin of magic. Note that this story features a closed group polyamory relationship (f/f/f/m).

Regular Price: 5.5

Itchio || Multiple Retailers


Dawn Weaver

Cover for Dawn Waver. Two women, one weilding a scythe with a dargon on her shoulders, the other with horns and holding magic black fire in her palm, stand among stone ruins.

Issy Waldrom

Fantasy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Lesbian, Sapphic, Trans fem

An ancient evil stirs in the kingdom of Avaraline, and the fate of all life in a world blessed by magic hangs in the balance. The Guilds and Clans, who hold the power of the lands, are ill equipped to deal with the unknown threat, with corruption spreading through their ranks. Not that this is of any consequence to Izen, a young man struggling to survive in a dying village, and Myne, a talented young Dragon rider seeking to prove herself. That is until the infamous Witch is sensed near his village and Izen becomes intertwined in world of the Dragon riders. Literally, with the magic awakening in him too. The complication, is that only females can be riders. This is the first book in the Soul Flames series, and is the prequel Soul Flames volume 1.

Regular Price: 3.99

Itchio || Multiple Retailers


Soul Flames vol 1

Cover for Soul Flames Vol 1 - Two women, one in the armor of a paladin with sword and shield, the other wearing gauntlets and raising her fists, stand in stone ruins.

Issy Waldrom

Fantasy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Lesbian, Sapphic, Trans fem

The demon king has been defeated, and a devastating war averted. The kingdom of Avaraline is on the slow road to recovery with Alysia at the helm. Velvet sleeps, wrapped in magical crystal, Myne inactive, unwilling to do anything without her lover, the previous cost too high and too raw for them both. But things are far from over. Ignoring that the demon king's retinue are still at large, and the neighbouring kingdoms are restless because of what had transpired, the world is stirring, the winds of change are blowing, the world on the brink of another evolution, the consequences of which will be more far reaching than anyone realizes. Destiny however has plans of its own. Chris, a young man discovering the truth about himself, and Rachael, a young woman hiding who she is, are both about to find themselves intertwined in the fate of the world. When secrets come to the surface, the results can be far beyond what either party considered. Especially when they hail from an earlier age... A sapphic trans story of finding oneself, of building relationships, and of getting intertwined in the schemes of beings known as the Ancients.

Regular Price: 5

Itchio || Multiple Retailers


From The Inside

Cover for From the Inside. A person laces up a bodice, photo taken from steep angle with harsh lighting.

Sophia Turner

Science Fiction, Romance, Fantasy, Horror, Dystopian, Paranormal, Contemporary

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation: Lesbian, Trans fem

Ten tales of trans lesbian goodness. These stories cover a variety of topics and styles, at times funny, at other times emotional and intimate. With plenty of spice to go around.

Regular Price: 4.99 AUD

Itchio || Amazon


She Who Brought the Storm

Cover for She Who Brought the Storm. Illustrated. A dragon-person holds two other people in their muscular and scarred arms. One of the embraced persons is blushing while the other has gloding hands.

Vaela Denarr & Micah Iannandrea

Fantasy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️

Representation: Lesbian, Non-binary, Sapphic, Trans fem, Other

Dragons rule in secret, known only to a few chosen humans—and Rhi, who strikes a deal with a dragon: Servitude for protection. Rhi is small, anxious, and gifted with magic that disables them more than it helps—Powerful magic, which many would stop at nothing to obtain. In their desperate search for safety, Rhi turns to none other than one of the secret dragon masters of Habitat Seventeen, Laura, Lady of Ash. Exposing Rhi’s forbidden knowledge could garner Laura the recognition and allies she needs. Instead she offers them a choice: She will shield them from their pursuers, and they’ll be her hunting dog. Loyal, obedient, and exactly what she needs to deal with a pervasive monster situation in her territory before the other Starborn catch wind of it. Rhi tentatively agrees, but the plan is complicated by the watchful eye of Calia, a bloodthirsty dragon with much to gain from their failure. And Rhi, grappling with their magic and desperately angling for control, doesn’t realize that being with Laura will put them closer to danger than ever before until it’s too late.

Regular Price: 5.99

Itchio


She Who Earned Her Wings

Cover for She Who Earned Her Wings. A dragon-person and an angel stand in a glowing florest with a large cat winding around the dragon-persons legs.

Vaela Denarr & Micah Iannandrea

Fantasy, Romance

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation: Lesbian, Non-binary, Sapphic, Trans fem, Other

Love is the sharpest of blades, and a fallen star can undo even a dragon. When stars fall from the sky, pulled down by ancient magic, Laura of the Ash Clan is determined to protect her territory. Accused of breaching Starborn law by dragons seeking an advantage, she relies—begrudgingly—on Calia, a dragon with whom she shares deep familiarity and history, one who is unafraid to face assassins and brave an ancient forest of necromantic rot. But in the end it is Laura who rules, and she who must protect what’s hers—even at the cost of her own heart. Nomi’s druidic pilgrimage, her long awaited chance to see the world, begins with her in the wrong place at the wrong time. Alone and far from home, she finds refuge with Laura of the Ash Clan, ruler of a vast forest. But Laura has her own troubles—conspiracies, secrets and heartbreak—that occupy her, and before long Nomi finds herself drawn not to the road, but to Laura and the beautiful dragon devoted to her. As more stars fall and long-dead secrets are clawed from the grave, Laura and Calia take comfort in Nomi’s curious excitement for their world. But the world of the Starborn is not as bright as it seems. Danger lurks in the shadows, and a fallen star can undo even a dragon.

Regular Price: 5.99

Itchio.io


The Gift of Blood

Cover for the Gift of Blood. Illustrated. A butch person with many tattoos an an undercut stands before a person in a top hat leering.

Vaela Denarr & Micah Iannandrea

Fantasy, Paranormal, Contemporary

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

Representation: Lesbian, Non-binary, Sapphic, Trans fem

Monsters are real, and Ryann is one of them. Chosen as a weapon in a war that is not her own, she finds an outlet for her anger in the fighting pits beneath Toronto, and on the hunt for the vampires that changed her. Whatever the cost, she’ll take back her life, her control—or make them fear the hunger they’ve roused in her. Burdened by monstrosity, Meg, assassin of the Scorching Dawn, drowns her pain in the blood of her enemies. When the call comes to slay the monster whipping the city’s beasts into a frenzy, she welcomes the hunt. And in Ryann, she finds a violent thirst for blood—and the opportunity to feed her own. Shadows surround the city. The beasts within cower as the foundations writhe. Drawn to one another by a mutual hunger, Ryann and Meg must learn to trust each other—or perish in the dark.

Regular Price: 7.99

Itchio


Behind the Mask

Cover for Behind the Mask. An illustrated purple frame highlights a person holding a purple boba tea.

Felix Graves

Cozy, Horror, Contemporary

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation: Lesbian, Trans fem, Sapphic, Bisexual

A Modern Sapphic Retelling of trans Perseus x Medusa Sese has worked hard to make sure she and her mother, Dana, could have a good life far away from the toxic influences of her mafia boss father. After Sese finds out that her parents have reconnected despite her best efforts, her father offers her a deal: complete three tasks for him, and he'll leave her and Dana alone for good. The tasks? Embezzlement, arson, and one measly murder. It's nothing Sese hasn't done before, and nothing she can't handle...so long as she doesn't get too distracted by a chance encounter with her ex-girlfriend. Sese and M. Gorgo parted on amicable terms rather than attempt a long-distance relationship, but now the botanist is back, and she covers her face with a mask. What is M hiding? Will Sese and her mother ever be truly free?

Regular Price $1.49 USD

Discounted Price : Free or Name Your Price on Itch.io

Itchio || Multiple Retailers


NeurodiVeRse

Cover for NeurodiVeRse. An illustrated portrayal of electronic networks as well as a brain, one hemisphere is shades of blue and th eother multiple colors.

MJ James

Join MJ James’ newsletter for a free short story!

Science Fiction

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Aromantic, Non-binary, Asexual

NeurodiVeRse is a near fiction sci-fi novel with an autistic, non-binary, aro/ace MC. After being kicked out of the house in high school Jupiter is looking for a place to belong. Fired from their job after moving across the country they are ready to give up, when they receive an invitation to a mysterious job interview. One that required a VR headset that is only rumored to exist. Is this the chance they have been waiting for? Available in audiobook.

Regular Price: 4.99

Multiple Retailers


A Quiet Universe

two characters float in space, one without a suite and covered in blood, the other in what looks like full armor

Kay F. Atkinson

Romance, Science Fiction, Horror

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

Representation: Lesbian, Trans fem

CERHA is a fabricant, and her job is simple: keep Annalise Fletcher safe, a role she performs dutifully and without fail, as she was designed to. Neither she nor her charge expected that this routine assignment could lead to love, but when feelings begin to bloom, neither see fit to stand in their way, and the two find themselves leading a shared life where both must walk a tightrope, precariously balancing between duty, and what domestic bliss is woven into the spaces remaining. For a time, they are as close to happy as they can manage. Then Annalise vanishes away to the embattled starship 'Upon Silver Tides', leaving a cryptic warning in her wake, and CERHA finds herself frantically in pursuit, on an illegal mission to save her objective-turned-lover and bring her home alive. She isn't sure what she'll find. But what awaits is a web ensnaring both wayward lovers, far more tangled than either could possibly know, and lurking upon this forsaken vessel is a descent into insanity that will force CERHA to confront the bleak truth at the heart of her function.

Regular Price: $5

Discounted Price: $2.50

Itchio


A Sea of Silence

Cover for A Sea of Silence. A very battered and bruised figure with a mechanical arm sits in a wooden chair in a sea of blood, holding an axe

Kay F. Atkinson

Romance, Science Fiction, Horror

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation: Lesbian, Trans fem

Ten years following the disaster aboard the starship Upon Silver Tides, the fleet has changed, and not for the better. Mortality makes the greedy desperate. Wealth begins to pool as those hungry for opportunity exploit the vulnerable to climb a once-ossified social hierarchy, while those who fall away from the gold rush with nothing to show for it become vicious, always in search of another victim upon which to inflict their anger. People who just want to live their lives are a perfect mark, in a world where anything but your soul can be stolen and sold back to you at a profit. People like Annalise Fletcher, and her wife, a fabricant called Sarah. But something is festering, as those with hungry eyes take freely from anyone weaker than themselves; something that will sweep the whole of the fleet away, and burn gilded castles to ash. The end of everything. Sarah and Annalise will be given the change they've been praying for, but they may not like the shape it takes.

Regular Price: $5

Discounted Price: $2.50

Itchio


Awakenings

Cover for Awakenings. Three figures stand on a road in the desert looking at a giant city built on a butte and covered in domes.

Claudie Arseneault

Join Claudie Arseneault’s newsletter for City of Spires bonus materials and short stories

Fantasy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Aromantic, Asexual, Non-binary, Queer

As the city’s eternal apprentice, Horace has never found a clan to belong to. E has joined Trenaze's guards with hopes to finally earn eir place during eir trial day at the Great Market—that is, until the glowing shards haunting the world break through the city's protective dome. Armed with a sword and too little training, Horace doubts in eir ability to defend the market-goers. But eir last stand is interrupted by a mysterious elven figure who can dissipate the shards with a single, strange sentence: your story is my story. From the moment it is uttered, Horace knows the sentences holds true for em, too—and when the elf collapses in the middle of the market, e carries them to safety. After an afternoon of board games in their quiet, sharp-witted company, Horace is ready to follow this elf as they seek the forest that haunts their dreams, and answers to the confounding events at the Market. Their story is eir story, and e is willing to confront the dangers of the road to hear their laugh again and finally feel like e belongs. Awakenings is the first of nine novellas in a fantasy adventure blending cozy fantasy vibes and D&D style side-questing, imbued with an aspec-focused queernormative world and strong platonic bonds.

Regular Price: 2.99

Discounted Price: 2.55 (itchio only)

Itchio || Multiple Retailers


The Cat and the Brat

Cover for the Cat and the Brat. A feline-esque hominid stands behind a naken human shown from the chest up. Illustrated. The word "brat" is struck through by claw marks.

D.T. Brandt

Romance, Fantasy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation: Achillean, Gay, Trans Masc, Bi, Non-Binary

What happens when unstoppable grump meets immovable sunshine? Samiel is trying to keep his head down, but the other castle guards are keen to remind him he isn't worthy of the job he'll probably inherit: his father's as captain and royal confidant. Of course, keeping his head down is not how they'd put it; Samiel's defensiveness is spiky, and keeps even his most likely allies at a distance. When Prince Rapuska of Tyria, a Felien, arrives at the guard corps as a diplomatic envoy to Corniss, his highest priority is getting the lay of the land. His most readily available source of information there is his new roommate: the enigmatic Samiel. Even with this chance at a fresh start, Samiel tries to keep Rapuska away so the prince’s reputation isn’t tarnished by association with him. Rapuska sees Samiel’s fire differently, however—as a keenness and conviction that may be exactly why he’s still positioned for the future he is. Their mutual concern starts small, but when Samiel is sent to accompany Rapuska back home to Tyria for the Queen’s birthday they find the whole capital has entered Felien heat season and their feelings for each other are pushed to their limits.

Regular Price: 4.50 USD

Discounted Price: Free/Pay What You Want

Itchio


Blood Samples

Cover for Blood Samples. A woman with a cybernetic eye patch stands against a futuristic and neon cityscape.

Xine Fury

Science Fiction

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Trans fem, Trans masc

Blood Samples is a prequel to the Bloodhunters series, and is a collection of six short stories set in a sci-fi universe.

Regular Price: $0

Multiple Retailers


A Lake of Feathers and Moonbeams

Cover for A Lake of Feathers and Moonbeams. Illustrated. Three figures stand at the edge of a dark lake in the forest while two swans fly overhead.

Dax Murray

Fantasy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️

Representation: Non-binary, Lesbian, Bisexual, Pansexual, Trans fem

Strange things can be said of the forest that spans the border of two kingdoms long at war. An evil sorcerer has made it his dominion, or an elegant enchantress has claimed it as her domain and grants wishes to those who chance upon her, or maybe the forest is guarded by an ancient and wrathful spirit. But Katya calls the forest home, living a life of magic and charms with her partner Ivan.

But a threat looms over their forest, some darkness and danger that Ivan swears to protect her from. Katya finds herself caught up in a web of grudges and deception spanning generations, but most dangerous of all is the beautiful princess who stumbled into their woods. A princess who sets Katya’s heart fluttering with both desire and fear.

As forces rally to rescue the princess or go to war, Katya must take measure of her own powers and decide what she is willing to sacrifice. Will she retreat to the safety of what's familiar or give up everything she knows to spread her wings and fly?

Direct from Author || Itchio || Amazon || Elsewhere


Thank you so much for being a part of the Queer Books Weekly community. We hope you found your next favorite read!

We are midway through the Trans Rights Readathon and the Trans Day of Visibility is quickly approaching. If you’re participating in the readathon, we wish you many five-star reads and a ton of happy endings! (Or dark endings, dark endings are fine if that’s what you are into!) This week we have a few bundles, too! If you haven’t heard, Itchio is were tons of queer authors are setting up shop and they have a cool feature that lets you bundle books together—especially when you want to have a sale on your whole backlist or want multiple authors to join you for a sale!

✨ BOOK OF THE WEEK ✨

TWINFLAME TALES: An Arjuiara Anthology

Two celestial beings embrace in dance, each wearing ornate clothing

Series: Twinflame Tales: Vol 1

Earth Priestess Arjuna

Romance, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Historical, Mystery, Thriller, Cozy, Paranormal, Poetry, Dystopian, Contemporary, Horror

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation: Lesbian, Queer, Trans fem, Intersex

Earth Priestess Arjuna records her various lifetimes and escapades with her wife, Biblical Dragon Kiara. Some are harrowing, some are sweet, some are dynamic—but always there is the love, the faith, the authenticity. Will you bear witness to these these beautiful, bewitching, breathtaking TwinFlame Tales?

Price: Pay what you want!

Itchio || Archive of Our Own


Heart of a Hero

A man with large muscles crouches down as if ready to spring into action. Behind him is an illuminated city.

Niranjan

Join Niranjan’s Newsletter for a free copy of “Light and Shadow”

Science Fiction

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Achillean, Bisexual, Gay

To uncover the truths about himself, he has to work with his enemy, but how far can he trust him? Heart of a Hero is a superhero adventure with a hero who’s ready to bend rules on occasion and a villain who’s every bit as bad as he claims to be. If you love superheroes, morally grey characters and enemies turned allies, you will love this novella. Buy Heart of a Hero today for a tale of love, loss, betrayal and new beginnings.

Discounted Price: $0.99 || Regular Price: $2.99

Itchio || Kobo || Amazon || Elsewhere


🎁 The Bundle Corner  🎁

Want to grab a ton of books at one low price all in one fell swoop? This week we have several bundles brought to you by authors wanting to discount all their books at once or by authors banding together to offer you a buffet! Each bundle listed contains plenty of queer stories at discount!

The Novella Bundle by Niranjan

A space background with shooting stars and seventeen book covers lined up, outlined in pink and blue. Only on Itch-io - 17 Novellas at only $25.99

A bundle of every novella Niranjan has written to date featuring queer characters!

Find it on Itchio! $25.99 for 17 novellas!

Books You Don’t Want To Miss:

  • Blade of Castrial,
  • Blue,
  • Out of the Blue,
  • Magical Mayhem,
  • Spaces of Silence,
  • The Shadows of the Fallen

Heat Without Light Full Series Bundle by David Hardie

A bundle containing all five books in this fantasy series about polyamorous furries decolonizing a fantasy world.

A banner with illustrations of several anthropomorphic animals aka furries with the words "heat without light full series bundle"

Somewhere out there is a great and terrible empire, so far away as to be from another world, but that is not what this story is about. This is the story of the people outside. The people who have found themselves for one reason or another shunned, ostracized, or escaping the clutches of this faraway empire. A group of people gather in the shadow of greatness and carve out a world for themselves. This bundle containts two gay, furry fantasy novels... so far. As the books are released, they will also be added to this bundle.

Get the bundle on Itchio! $5 for 5 books!

Books you Don’t Want to Miss:

  • A Lion Among Mice
  • Plenty Hollow
  • Vanquisher of Death

The Books Meta Stole by Niranjan

A beautiful night sky background with shooting stars. Overlaid are 14 book covers outlined in blues and pinks. Text reads "Meta Stol emy books, so I'm putting them on sale 49% off"

These are the books that Meta stole to train their planet-destroying plagiarism machine. Most of them are queer. May it at least teach the AI what it means to be inclusive. (Since three books of my series are there, I've added the other two so you can get them all!)

Get the bundle on Itchio! 14 books for $29.99!

Books you don’t want to miss!

  • Memories of Forgotten Waves
  • There's Always a Morning
  • Whispers in the Dark
  • The Dragon and the Mage

That’s it for this week! Next week we will have our New Release Round Up AND our Trans Day of Visibility list! Set your alarms, mark your calendars, and tell the world! You don’t want to miss it! Thanks so much! I hope you found your next favorite book!

Read more...

Another week, another awesome list of LGBTQIA books at affordable prices! Make sure you read to the end, cause there’s a bonus with a hot tip on getting dozens of books for less than a dollar each in preperation for the Trans Rights Readathon.

✨ BOOK OF THE WEEK ✨

Idle Hands

Cover for IDLE HANDS. A woman in a hoodie stands with a gun in one of her hands. Behind her, an eerie, glowing city burns.

Series: The Jackson Grey Situation #1

Aubrey Jones

Fantasy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️

Representation: Bi, Queer, Other

Gritty urban fantasy in a neo-noir style, Idle Hands is perfect for readers who yearn for a fast-paced, hard-hitting thriller like a queer-leftist Sandman Slim or Something from the Nightside.

Guaranteed to be cathartic, inspiring reading for our times.

Jackson Grey, PhD did everything right and she's on the verge of a breakthrough in cancer treatment when corporate conspiracy takes it all—her career, her research, her colleagues. Callous profiteers have twisted her cure into a weapon, erasing her future and dooming countless others. Desperate, furious, and alienated on the streets of Philly, Jax makes a deal with an elusive new ally—a supernatural anarchist who says he's the Devil. With growing infernal powers, formidable wits, relentless will, and a custom machine gun, Jax will do whatever it takes to dismantle the engines of her misery and punish the shadowy men who profit from them. Dr. Grey's world is our own, but in Idle Hands, Jones tells a story where pride and pleasure are celebrated. Violence is an answer. And resistance isn’t stoic or pretty—it’s loud, raw, and unapologetic. This is a neo-noir fantasy where rage is power and the monster that goes bump in the night is a woman with nothing to lose.

Regular Price: 5.99

Amazon || Kobo || Elsewhere


Glass Kanin

Series: Glass Kanin #1

Cover for Class Kanin. A mechanical thingmaob whirls through an office / library space. Illustrated.

Kia Leep

Join Kia’s newsletter to get a free short story about Kanin & co!

Fantasy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Achillean, Gay, Lesbian, Non-Binary, Ace

As a rising actor, Kanin's body is his career. His identity. His life. All that is taken from him when he dies and is reborn as a bottle of ink. Now living as the heart of a magical glass servant, Kanin's new purpose is to perform a senile wizard's yard work—a role this world's magic system seems intent on enforcing. That might have been manageable if a murderous shadow monster wasn't hunting his very soul. But he's not alone. Teaming up with an elf whose soul has likewise been trapped in a toy octopus, they recruit help from a devilishly handsome rogue and set off on a journey to break the spell that's trapped them in this state. A wizard owns his body. The magic system has determined his fate. A shadow monster wants to control his mind. But as long as Kanin's soul remains his own, he'll fight to win back his autonomy—or die trying. ...Again. Glass Kanin's blend of whimsy, humor, and horror will appeal to Ghibli fans looking for queer characters on a quest for their agency while exploring what it means to be human.

Book 1 will be on sale at $0.99 from March 17th – 23rd, and Book 2 releases on March 18th at $2.99!

**Discounted Price: $**0.99 || **Regular Price: $**4.99

Amazon


Crushed Hearts

Cover for Crushed Hearts. Illustrated in flat color style, two men stand at the center of a track ring.

Series: Crushed Hearts #1

Kae Ruby

Contemporary

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Bi, Trans masc

All that Emery Theiss wants is to become an English professor, knowing his ADHD medication means his days of running sprints are over. But when the track team star, Beckett Delroy, unceremoniously hits him with a football, Emery's bad luck changes gears. Beckett needs Emery's advice to help his crush warm up to him, and Emery could use Beckett's confidence to win over his best friend and secure his future. But while coming to an agreement is easy, Beckett is the track rival who broke Emery's coveted record, and he can't stop himself from flirting, even with Emery. The charmingly annoying teasing, however, reveals Beckett has a softer side. The more time he spends with Beckett, the less important impressing his crush becomes. Faced with the possibility of losing his chance at his future, will Emery chase love or settle for certainty to ensure his heart isn't crushed?

Regular Price: 2.79 for 30 coins, or free if earned through watching ads.

WattPad


Of Masks & Men: An M/M Strangers to Lovers Romance Story

Cover for Of Masks and Men. A man with ruffled sleeves hold a porchelien and gold mask full of trim and feathers over his face

Daisy Fairchild

Join Daisy Fairchild’s Newsletter

Romance, Contemporary

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation: Gay

Marcus is an American in Brazil for Carnivale, expecting… he’s not sure what. But after a heated encounter in an alleyway with a masked man, Marcus finds himself in a cat-and-mouse chase across the city, searching for his mysterious lover. A series of charged trysts leaves Marcus only wanting more: more time, more answers, and more revelations. However, Carnivale has to come to an end — will this affair be over when the sun rises? Discover a heated story of anonymous romance in Daisy Fairchild’s 10K story, Of Masks & Men.

**Regular Price: $**2.99

Direct from Author || Amazon


Farzana's Spite

Felix Graves

Cover for Farzana's Spite. A swirling mix of purple satin and glittering silver with a crown shattering into pieces

Fantasy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

Representation: Lesbian, Bisexual

Life is about as good as it gets for an anxious and depressed bastard stripped of any social benefits of her caste. Farzana has a cushy job, a steadfast best friend, and a mother and younger brother who love her to bits. She was just as shocked as everyone else when Erasto of the House of Violets murdered the royal family in cold blood, and during a live broadcast in the middle of the night no less. But while everyone else was reeling from the loss of their nobility and the news that they now answer to a dictator, Farzana had a slightly more personal crisis going on: Erasto is her long-lost father she had always hoped to meet. Be careful what you wish for. In the bloody aftermath of Erasto’s coup, this traumatized lesbian pixie struggles to find a reason—any reason—to try to survive. And as the kingdom descends further into chaos, one thing becomes clear: if someone doesn’t step up soon to set things right, there won’t be much left worth saving.

Discounted Price: $2.99 on Itchio Regular Price: 3.99

Itchio || Elsewhere


Chasing Howe

Cover for Chasing Howe. A man in a buttoned up space like uniform holds a hologram in front of him, behind him is a giant gas planet in the sky

Series: Forging the Stars #1

J.F. Miev

Get a free bonus short story set before Chasing Howe when you join J. F. Miev’s newsletter

Science Fiction

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

Representation: LGBTQIA+

Aiden had everything—his dream career, a comfortable life and a fiancée he loved. But when she is murdered during a business trip to Mars, his perfect world shatters. An investigation and a trial soon follow, and the space smuggler, Darren Howe, is quickly convicted. However, when no motive is supplied and Howe is given a life sentence instead of the death penalty, things don't add up. No matter how hard Aiden tries, the authorities refuse to explain their decision, leaving him with no choice but to seek the answers elsewhere. Two years later, Aiden secures a job as the warden at Jupiter’s Horizons Space Prison. The plan is simple—find out the truth and kill Howe. But things get complicated when he approaches the charismatic man who awakens in him urges he hasn’t felt in years. The truths Aiden uncovers as he fights the attraction between them will reveal secrets he might not be ready for and make him question everything he knows about the life he’s lived so far. Chasing Howe is an enemies-to-lovers MM sci-fi romance mystery about an ex-architect who will stop at nothing until he avenges the death of his fiancée and the prisoner who will turn his world upside-down. It serves as an easy introduction to the low sci-fi genre and features hidden identities, a generous dose of mystery, high stakes, slow burn, pining, obsession and an intriguing plot.

Regular Price: $4.99

Amazon


STORIES FOR THE TRANS RIGHTS READATHON

Itch.io Bundle!

March 17th to March 31st. Several books in the colors of the transpride flag with sparkles also in the pink and blue of the flag.

$20 for 46 books, or $30 for 73 books!

In honor of the Trans Rights Readathon, over 40 authors and comic artists have joined forces to provide a plethora of options! Check it out on Itch and get all of these books DRM-Free!

Highlights from the Bundle:


Don’t forget, we’re celebrating Trans Visibility Day here at Queer Books Weekly. If you’re an author with a book with trans characters, please take a moment to submit it to be included in our list!

Hello, wonderful readers! We’ve made it through another week. I hope you picked up plenty of books during last week’s Smashwords sale! But I still have a few more deals for you this week! Enjoy!

✨Books of the Week

The Fae Realm Series

A dark forest background with the illustrated cover for each of the five books in the Fae Realm series overlaid. Each are done in art nuevou style with crescent frames, showing one characters prominently, including dueling charcter, characters holding swords and shields.

Series Books:

  1. The Blessing of the Equinox,

  2. The Wolf and the Warlock,

  3. The Broken Dragon,

  4. The Queen’s Shadow,

  5. The Horns of the Hunt

Kathryn Reynolds

Fantasy, Historical

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

Represenation: Gay, Bi, Pan, Asexual, Aromantic, Trans fem, Lesbian, Non-binary

Welcome to The Fae Realm, where the dead walk, the Unseelie deal in contracts, and the dwarves are threatening civil war. An old, long-defeated evil is stirring, gathering strength once more, and it will take an unlikely group of heroes to thwart him – a kind witch; a dwarven outcast; a pair of star-crossed gay elves; and two very sassy old women.

Regular Price: $2.99 each

Amazon – Including Kindle Unlimited

Grab the books now before the sixth book releases this spring!


Silver Helix

Series: Silver Helix, Book 1

Cover for Silver Helix. A huge tower looms over a city scape with the main character standing at the bottom shown in a blue glow. Illustrated.

Xan van Rooyen

Science Fiction, Fantasy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

Representation: Non-binary, Bi, Asexual, Trans, Pan, Lesbian, Queer

On the surface, the city of HelsInc appears to have recovered from the war waged between humans and Ethereals, but beneath the scars, the city seethes. The remains of magic festers, causing mutations in human DNA which could give humans Ethereal power—not that the HelsInc government would ever let that happen. The Legion resists, ripping out their neurochips and protesting the mandatory gene therapy for humans with cryptomine in their DNA.

At only 19 years old, Omyn Talvinen isn’t ready to play parent to her kid brother, but with her mom in prison on trumped up charges and her deadbeat dad AWOL, she’s left with little choice. Forced to risk her freedom to pay the rent, Omyn finds herself at the mercy of a pair of cyborg soldiers when they catch her red-handed stealing nanites from a cyberware Salon. But the synths’ powers don’t work on Omyn, and they discover they all share a common memory that they must get to the root of. Wanted dead by the government, Omyn and the renegade soldiers turn to a rebel Legion group with dreams of resuscitating dead magic for help. With the clock-ticking for the synths, Zee-Five and Omyn are forced to confront the secrets of their past and a dark conspiracy that’ll shake the blood-soaked foundations of the city.

Discounted Price: 0.99 || Regular Price: $19.99

Amazon


Anthem for the Chemical Youth

Series: Silver Helix 1.5

Cover for Anthem for the Chemical Youth. Illustrated cover showing a dark cityscape and a huge tower looming over it.

Xan van Rooyen

Fantasy, Science Fiction

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

Representation: Pan, Trans, Asexual, Non-binary, Queer, Lesbian

Set in the the same Ethereal universe as Silver Helix, to be read as a stand-alone or as a segue between Silver Helix and the forthcoming sequel. When Wraith witnesses first-hand the devastation synthetic magic can wreak on the innocent, he is forced to make a terrible decision: betray his family and everything he thought he stood for, or stand by while the city is sucked into another brutal war between humans and Ethereals.

Regular Price: $1.13

Amazon || Smashwords

Don’t forget to add the next book in the Silver Helix series—Shadow Ascension—to your tbr! Expected release: April 1st, 2025!


The Fealty of Monsters Volume 1

Cover for The Fealty of Monsters. Illystrated cover showing twisting vines and flowers, with insect wings and swords interspersed.

Series: The Fealty of Monsters #1

Ladz

Fantasy, Horror

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation: Gay, Lesbian, Non-binary, Queer, Sapphic

A gothic horror, grimdark fantasy retelling of the Russian Revolution in which a stealth vampire learns there's not much he won't do to stop a forever war between humans and vampires.

Discounted Price: $0.99 || Regular Price: $4.99

Itchio || Other Major Retailers


Thanks so much for another wonderful week in Queer Lit! If you have your own book, serial, comic, or zine you want to have featured here, don’t forget to check out the booking page to get on the list!

With Itchio becoming more popular, and authors organizing itchio bundles more frequently, we’ve added this as an option! We hope to make sure you can take full advantage of events where you can snag multiple books in one swoop!

Queer Books Weekly banner image with the crown and book and a rainbow gradient, but overlaid is an image of the Devon Ilsand Mars Colony book cover and the profile Image of Si Clarke, a woman wearing bright blue glasses and with white and red hair looking up and smiling slightly.

Today, we have the wonderful Si Clarke sharing a little behind-the-scenes glimpse of what goes into her cozy-ish science fiction (without the pew-pew) books. Si Clarke is the author of the Devon Island Mars Colony series—a story about building a colony on Mars from the ground up! She shares a little bit with us today about exactly how much research needs to happen before you can enjoy a life on Mars.

Multi colored space backfround with a rainbow ringed-planet and sans-serif font reading "si clarke. sci-fi without the pew-pew"

About the time I used writing to boost my mental health…

At the start of 2018, I felt myself sinking into depression. I’d left my job in October, but I’d had plenty to keep me busy until the new year. Once January rolled around and my partner went back to work, I had nothing. Every morning, I would search for new job adverts and apply. 

So, I’d get up, spend ten minutes looking for work, then I’d go to the sofa – and I wouldn’t move again until my partner got home at dinnertime.

I did that every day for two weeks. I could feel my mental health deteriorating. I felt like I’d never find work and that my entire life had been wasted. 

On Monday morning of the third week, I sat down on the sofa – then immediately bounced back to my feet. ‘Nope. I’m not going to do that,’ I told my dogs. I walked over to my desk and sat down to write.

Except, I wasn’t ready to write. Not yet. 

The book I had in my head needed so much research and planning. In writing about the establishment of a fully independent colony on Mars, I researched the crap out of everything. Wherever there’s a bit of science in this story, it’s grounded in reality. There’s even a whole section on the science at the back of the book.

To give you an idea of the research that went into this series, I created endless spreadsheets and documents to calculate or understand:

  • MELiSSA:
The European Space Agency’s closed-loop life-support project
  • How much land is required to support human life on a per capita basis?
  • Hohmann transfer windows
 vs ballistic capture for getting to Mars
  • Pooping on Mars: How to deal with human waste 
  • How to eliminate low-gravity bone loss

  • Minimum viable population: Competing theories about the magic number

  • How to dispose of dead bodies in the most efficient way

For the next five months, I spent 60 hours a week at my desk working on both the story and the science that feeds into it. I finished the first draft of the first book six months after I started my job. I was on my lunch break, typing into my phone while weaving and dodging pedestrians in London’s Canary Wharf. 

As of today, I've published eight novels and I'm working on my ninth. And I'm never looking back.

An ereader floats in a cloudy bright space background, it is displaying the cover for the Devon Island Mars Colony. Lesbians in space. building a mars colony from the ground up. so much science. inclusive by design. found family.

You can pick up the Devon Island Mars Colony series in an exclusive web bundle on White Hart Fiction’s website.

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Aromantic, Asexual, Bi, Gay, Lesbian, Non-binary. Queer, Sapphic, Trans masc

Devon Island Mars Colony – Complete Series

Bringing together two novels and three short stories, this is a work of neurodiverse, culturally diverse, gender-bendy, socio-politico-economic, drunken-arguments-in-the-pub science fiction – not bang-bang-pew-pew science fiction.

Devon’s Island (Book #1): Planning the first permanent Mars colony…

Before we can build a colony on Mars, someone has to decide how it’s going to work. With 160 slots to fill with experts from all over the world, Gurdeep and Georgie set about designing an all-new society with its own government, economy, and culture – and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Livid Skies (Book #2): Building the first permanent Mars colony…

A fresh start, a queer social liberal dream, and a planet that wants to kill you. Grappling with the realities of human nature and with their batteries slowly dying, the fledgling colony’s 150 women and 10 men must overcome their differences to create a lasting community. But things aren’t always what they seem and maybe the colonists aren’t as alone as they thought.

The Invite (a Mars Colony short)

Before they were tasked with planning the first permanent colony on Mars, Gurdeep and Georgie were just an ordinary couple.

Stardust Wake (a Starship Teapot and Mars Colony short)

They’ve been friends since childhood. But can their friendship survive adult reality?

Past imperfect (a Mars Colony short) ebook

Isolated on Mars, anyone could start going stir crazy…

Si Clarke. Devon Island Mars Colony. A dome sits on top of a small colony on Mars while three people in space suits look aon.

Discounted Price: 7.99 GBP or 9.49 EUR/CAD/USD (Plus additional discount if you sign up for the newsletter!) || Regular Price: 10.95 GBP or 12.95 EUR/CAD/USD

Purchase Direct on White Hart Fictions Web Store!

You can learn more about Si Clarke and the rest of her catalog (such as The Left Hand of Dog—an extremely silly sale of alien abduction and Consider Pegasus—a space tale about unicorn rights) at Whitehart Fiction’s website. And don’t forget to sign up to join her newsletter.

We are so thankful for Si Clarke joining us today and sharing a very intimate look into her life as an author, not just the work that goes into it, but the reasons to keep going with it. We are looking forward to many more sci-fi stories with more cozy and less pew-pew.

Welcome to March! The first week of March is “Read an Ebook Week,” which the indie bookstore Smashwords always celebrates with a massive sale! Many of the discounts and deals you will find in this week’s Deals and Steals will be found only on Smashwords. But don’t worry! Smashwords provides DRM-free files and will walk you through how to send those files to your ereader of choice if you aren’t sure how to do it! Smashwords also has one of the highest royalties rates in from retailers for authors. So it’s a win-win! Smashwords sales usually work by providing a coupon code for participating books. The code for this sale is EBW50, EBW25, or EBW75 depending on the discount for the book!

✨ Book of the Week ✨

📚 New Release! 📚

Cold Steel

Cover for Cold Steel. Two young women each grasp the hilt of a sword as if to plunge it into the ground. A bright light shines down on them.

Series: Fire Heart #2

Joyce Ch'ng

Fantasy

Representation: Lesbian, Queer, Sapphic

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Wehia and Geri travel back to the fens to find the truth about the link between the border people and the matriarchal sword smiths. Are the two ready for the truth? Wehia is also holding a painful secret: her perfect sword is not perfect. When the threat of war comes knocking at Wehia's doorstep, will she be able to rise above failure, pain and pride? Will she be able to reforge the broken Council Sword and bring peace to the City of the Swords? Moreover, will Wehia and Geri find the happiness they both seek?

Itchio || Amazon || Direct


Triple Strike: Threads of Fate

Cover for Triple Strike. Two men stand at the helm of a technologically advanced ship, one with spikey purple hair and a lizard on his shoulders sits before a ships steering wheel while the other, sword in hand, leans against the chair with a knowing smirk.

Series: Triple Strike, #1

G.M. Gray

Science Fiction

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Gay, Aromantic, Bi/Pan.

Alan Beringer’s day takes an unexpected turn when he’s kidnapped by alien space pirates, but pirates aren’t the problem. The problem is Alan's job is curtailing space piracy. The problem is Alan may be more alien than he lets on. The problem is the pirate captain, Sven Jiordson, has a growing infatuation with Alan. The problem is Alan kind of enjoys being kidnapped. But the biggest problem of all is that a new organization is shifting the balance of power between all three interstellar species, and all signs indicate Alan is about to be caught in the middle of it…

Regular Price: 4.99

Itch || Amazon || BN || Kobo


Riyati Rebirth

Cover for Riyati Rebirth. A glowing green glyph full of strange symbols floats in a current of mist and magic.

Series: Riyati #1

Kai Zeal

Fantasy, Contemporary

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

Representation: Asexual, Lesbian

With great power comes your past incarnations and future self playing chess with your existence. Kylie Rae thought she was an average honors high school student but discovered during a life-threatening incident that she's the reincarnation of an ancient magic kingdom's crown princess. Now people she's never met want her dead, and she must learn how to survive in this new world while maintaining the façade that nothing's changed. Forget making A's, how will Kylie survive to the end of the year when she's constantly looking over her shoulder? Riyati is a new adult/adult contemporary, low dark fantasy series that seeks to explore themes of identity, legacy, the greater good, and finding your own path in life. The series includes multiple first person perspectives and multiple queer characters (currently including demisexual/romantic and lesbian representation with more to come in future books), set in the modern day United States.

Discounted Price: $1.24 || Regular Price: $4.99

Smashwords


My Lord

Series: The Transcended #1

A man with long dark hair is chained around the wrists in a threatening looking dungeon. He is on his knees as two cuts across his chest expose purple blood.

L. B. Shimaira

Sign up for L. B. Shimaira’s newsletter

Paranormal, Horror, Romance, Fantasy, Historical

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation: Bi, Sapphic, Pan, Other

“MY LORD is a queer, slow-burn erotic gothic horror novel about rediscovering yourself after trauma—with kinky, blood-drinking immortals and polyamory. ~ After losing hearth and home, Meya attempts to escape the traumatic memories by travelling east. In 13th century Tristanja, however, it’s not safe to be alone. A local slave trader catches wind of the kinless woman and abducts her in the dead of night. Beaten and abused, the now meek Meya is sold to Lord Deminas. He's known to be cruel, yet becomes strangely protective of his new chambermaid, punishing anyone who dares hurt her. After cutting her to drink her blood, he even uses his own to heal her wounds. Meya and her paramour wonder if Deminas’ dark secret is why servants regularly vanish, including the lord's previous chambermaids. However, the two women quickly learn that Lord Deminas isn't the only danger lurking in the castle's shadows.”

Discounted Price $0.99 || Regular Price $3.99

Smashwords


A Sharper, More Lasting Pain

Cover for A Sharper More Lasting Pain. Two hands with long claws stretch across the sover against a backdrop of Victorian era wallpaper.

Series: A Brutal, More Monstrous Dance #1

Alex Harvey-Rivas

Fantasy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation: Achillean, Lesbian, Non-binary, Queer, Sapphic, Trans masc

After their girlfriend’s best friend is wounded in a monster attack, Simone Allard stumbles across a plot much deeper than they anticipated. As they work to find a cure to their own forming illness and find out the truth, one question remains: how was Nadia involved in this? Nadia DuPont doesn’t know how much time she has or even what is ailing her, but it all gets more complex after meeting Simone on a field trip. As they both work to find a cure to her ailment, all Nadia is certain of is she's on the path to ruin.

Note from the Author: “…there would be a QPR if these people weren't so radioactive…”

Discount: FREE || Regular Price: $3.99

Smashwords || Elsewhere


By the Blood of Rowans

Cover for By the Blood of Rowans. Two men stand back to back, each looking hopeless, each naked, exposing wounds and a dark tree tattoo across the back of one of them. They stand among a dark forest.

Xan van Rooyen

Fantasy, Young Adult

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Asexual, Bi, Non-binary, Queer

The Sheehy witches are the most feared and detested family on the island of Inisliath, and none more so than Rowan, a deathwalker, who ferries island souls to the Otherworld, experiencing their deaths and carrying their memories like ghosts within him. When the magic on the island starts to seep away from the other founding families, everyone blames the Sheehys—especially when islanders start dying. Ash is sick of their father's fists and constantly having to apologize for who they are. Life on Inisliath might be the fresh start Ash and their mum need, and meeting soft-spoken, curly-haired Rowan feels like the ray of sunshine Ash has desperately needed—but everything goes sideways when Ash's mum becomes lead detective on a series of ritualistic murders allegedly tied to island magic, and Ash's family history. And worse still, the islanders are convinced Rowan is the perpetrator. When Ash does some investigating of their own, they discover Rowan is far more likely to be the next victim. With time running out to save Rowan, Ash will have to choose between a life free of their father or the boy they’re starting to love. Meanwhile Rowan will have to decide just how much he's willing to sacrifice to save his family from the darkness about to be unleashed on the island.

Discounted Price: $1.49 || Regular Price: $3.99

Smashwords


Cover for The Carnelian King and Other Stories. A knight on a rearing horse holds a sword aloft as a winged serpent with long whiskers dives at the knight.

Arden Powell

Check out Arden Powell’s Patreon for bonus content and epilogues!

Romance, Fantasy, Cozy. Horror

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

Representation: Achillean, Gay, Lesbian, Non-binary, Queer, Sapphic

A collection of fifteen queer fantasy stories introducing dazzling new worlds. From a magical second-hand shop hidden between dimensions to rolling emerald hills dotted with ancient ruins, through carnivorous winter woods and across the war-torn steppes of a crumbling empire, this collection spans beloved fantasy genres from classic to cozy, action and adventure to sword and sorcery, and gothic horror to romance. Includes gay, sapphic, and nonbinary characters, with and without romance.”

Discounted Price: $1.99 || Regular Price: $3.99

Smashwords || Itchio

Don’t forget to leave a review on Goodreads.


The Other Me

Two hand drawn images, one of a person with dark black hair and the other with long red hair, each against a backdrop of musical notation, vie for prominence on the cover, horizontal slices showing one or the other.

Xan van Rooyen

Young Adult

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Bi, Trans masc, Questioning, Lesbian

Fifteen-year-old Treasa Prescott might be an alien: it's the only explanation for why she doesn't fit in with the preppy South African private school crowd and feels so claustrophobic in her own skin. Treasa is worried she might spend life as a social pariah when she meets Gabriel du Preez. Gabriel plays the piano better than Beethoven, has a black belt in karate, and would look good wearing a garbage bag. Treasa thinks he's perfect. It might even be love, as long as Gabriel doesn't find out she's a freak. As Treasa spends time with Gabriel, she realizes she might not love him as much as she wants to be him, and that the reason she feels uncomfortable in her skin might have less to do with extra-terrestrial origins and more to do with being born in the wrong body. But Gabriel is not the perfect boy Treasa imagines. He harbors dark secrets and self-destructive tendencies. Still, Treasa might be able to accept Gabriel's baggage if he can accept who she longs to be.

Discounted Price: $1.99 || Regular Price: $3.99

Smashwords


Obsidian Island

Cover for Obsidian Island. A large compas is surrounded by tentacles and red posies.

Arden Powell

Join Arden Powell’s Patreon for bonus content and epilogues!

Romance, Fantasy, Historical, Horror

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

Representation: Achillean, Trans masc

Four shipwrecked sailors. An island of unimaginable beauty. And a nightmare determined to hunt them down and consume them, bodies and souls. Emery Lapwing is only interested in two things: exploring the natural world, and pretending that he's not in love with his closest friend, Captain James Rawlings of The Achillean. The first is easy: James will sail him anywhere he wants to go. The second, Emery has been doing for the past ten years. Emery's routine is shattered when he and James are swept overboard in a lightning storm. When the storm passes, they find themselves on the glittering pink beach of an unmapped island where no one has ever walked before. The island seems like the perfect place to recuperate as they wait for rescue, brimming with miraculous new species to be discovered. And a thousand miles from civilization, it's all too easy for Emery to imagine kissing James. In London, it was unthinkable—a kiss between two men meant the gallows if they were caught. On the island, it means risking James' friendship when they most need each other to survive. But attraction isn't the only peril they face. The island hides a dangerous secret, and James and Emery aren't the only castaways falling under its spell. Monstrous creatures stalk their every move and something is taking root in their dreams, luring them deeper into the island's deadly, tropical heart.”

Discounted Price: $2.99 || Regular Price $5.99”

Smashwords || Itchio


Engagement To Die For

Cover for Engagement to Die For. A long train track stretches into a dense forest.

Series: Harlow Mystery #2

Claris Lam

Mystery

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Bi, Gay, Lesbian

After everything Aubri went through at the resort, the last thing Aubri needs is more drama. However, meeting her previously-unknown twin sister for the first time, and attending her mother's engagement party, results in yet another murder. Due to the remote area of this crime, the police won't be able to make it for a few days, and Aubri realizes that she, once again, along with her friends and her sister, must take up the mantle themselves to solve the case or risk being new victims.

Discounted Price: 2.99 || Regular Price: 3.99

Smashwords


Bloody Fantasia

Cover for Bloody Fantasia. Handwritten musical notation / sheet music is torn up and scattered.

Series: Harlow Mystery #3

Claris Lam

Mystery

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Bi, Lesbian, Gay

“In “Bloody Fantasia,” Aubri Harlow and her friends believe that their days of investigating murders are over. However, when Aubri's sister, Aria, moves into her new music school, the Da Capo Music Institution, the school's acting president suddenly dies during the welcoming ceremonies. However, the acting president's death is far from the first murder committed on campus. A string of past murders haunt the school's reputation and its students. It doesn't take long before new corpses start piling up, and Aubri, Aria, and their friends realize they must take up the mystery-solving mantle once more and find out who the murderer is. Will they figure out the person responsible for causing these new tragedies, or will they become part of its bloody history? Find out by reading “Bloody Fantasia!””

Discounted Price: $2.99 || Regular Price: $3.99

Smashwords


Heart Wood

Cover for Heat Wood. A dark and forbidding background with golden branches intertwining with each other and the title of the book, among the twisting tangled branches are bright red flowers and blue humming birds.

Katey Hawthorne

Sign up for Katey’s newsletter to get a free prequel to Heart Wood!

Romance, Fantasy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation: Bi, Gay, Non-binary, Queer, Aromantic, Asexual

“The Stone City and the Heart Wood: uneasy neighbors separated by the Bluebird River. In the City, Hendrik is about to lose the only life he's ever known, the only love he's ever wanted. In the Wood, corruption threatens the carefully cultivated ecosystem and Dagan's way of life. Two worlds, fated to collide at last. It could be the end. Or a new beginning. An M/M romantasy.

Discounted Price: 3.49 || Regular Price: 6.99

Direct from Author || Smashwords


The Warm Machine

Cover for The Warm Machine. A robot looks over a city as the sun sets. The title of the book is in neon sign with the M in Warm slightly faded out.

Aimee Cozza

Science Fiction, Dystopian

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Gay, Pan

When a robot built for construction work first sees an angular, sleek prototype military robot slink onto the base he's working outside of, he immediately falls in love. The problem is, only anomalous bots understand the concept of love, and the lowly laborbot has not deviated from his default programming once. So he thinks, anyway. When the laborbot is scheduled for decommission, the military bot cannot possibly live without him, and the two bots set out on a path to find the fabled anomalous robot utopia Root.

Regular Price: 4.99 || Discounted Price: 1.24

Smashwords


I Heart Robot

Cover for I Heart Robot. An older brick wall has several bricks missing, through which a glowing red circuit borad can be seen

Xan van Rooyen

Science Fiction, Young Adult, Dystopian

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Queer, Bi, Other, Lesbian, Queer, Pan

Sixteen-year-old Tyri wants to be a musician and wants to be with someone who gets her musical aspirations. Q-I-99, aka 'Quinn,' lives in a scrap metal sanctuary with other rogue droids. While some use violence to make their voices heard, demanding equal rights for AI enhanced robots, Quinn just wants a moment on stage with his violin to show the humans that androids like him have more to offer than their processing power. Tyri and Quinn's worlds collide when they're accepted by the Baldur Junior Philharmonic Orchestra. As the rift between robots and humans deepens, Tyri and Quinn's love of music draws them closer together, forcing Tyri to question where her loyalties lie and Quinn to question his place in the world. With the city on the brink of civil war, will Tyri's and Quinn's passion for music be enough to hold them together while everything else crumbles down around them, or will the truth of who they are tear them apart?

Discounted Price: $1.49 || **Regular Price: $**2.99

Smashwords


Obscura Burning

Cover for Obscura Burning. The silhouett of a man is seen against a large glowing orb with starlight and space plasma cover the cover.

Xan van Rooyen

Young Adult, Science Fiction

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

Representation: Bi, Gay, Queer

The world's going to end in fire… and it's all Kyle's fault. Kyle Wolfe's world is about to crash and burn. Just weeks before graduation, a fire kills Kyle's two best friends and leaves him permanently scarred. A fire that Kyle accidentally set the night he cheated on his boyfriend Danny with their female friend, Shira. That same day, a strange new planet, Obscura, appears in the sky. And suddenly Kyle's friends aren't all that dead anymore. Each time Kyle goes to sleep, he awakens to two different realities. In one, his boyfriend Danny is still alive, but Shira is dead. In the other, it's Shira who's alive… and they're friends with benefits. Bouncing back and forth is taking a toll not only on Kyle, but on the world too, which might perish along with him. Amid the collapse of his parent's marriage and with realities shifting every time he closes his eyes, Kyle must discover how these events relate to Obscura… and he's the only one who can prevent everything going down in flames.

Discounted Price: $1.99 || Regular Price: $2.99

Smashwords


In the Pit of Your Stomach: An Interactive Horror Story

Cover for In the Pit of Your Stomach. Illustrated. A decrepit house is seen in the distance, with a strange cryptid sneaking around the side near the woods. The road leading to the house has a skeleton painted on it.

Arden Powell

Join Arden Powell’s Patreon to get bonus content and epilogues!

Horror

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

Representation: Queer

You are being hunted by a bloodthirsty monster. Your choices: Escape to survive another day. Romance your best and only friend while you both still have the chance. Meet a violent death, ripped apart by the creature's needle-sharp teeth. Succumb to infection and give in to your new cannibalistic urges. A short, interactive choose-your-own-horror story with 18 possible endings.

Discounted Price: $1.49 || Regular Price: $2.99

Smashwords || Itchio


The Cradle of Eternal Night

Cover for Cradle of Eternal Night. Two women stand back to back, each reaching around to clasp the other's hand. one has a lute in her hand.

Ladz

Fantasy, Romance, Horror

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation: Lesbian

A sapphic horror romantasy in which two heroic lesbians, a witch and a bard, fight to release the light from the theocracy that plunged their world into ceaseless darkness.

Discounted Price: $2.49 || Regular Price: $4.99

Smashwords


Hymn of Memory

Cover for Hymn of Memory. A man with shaggy blond hair and wearing a hooded sweater, sits on a cushion staring up in contemplation. There are sunflowers near him and his head is hallowed with a shining circle.

S. Jean

Join S. Jean’s newsletter to get a FREE short story!

Fantasy, Contemporary

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Achillean, Gay, Lesbian

When Morgan's divine duties erase his memories until he can hardly remember anything beyond his name, he dreams of one thing: escape. And he finally gets his chance when the very familiar Fin falls into his life and whisks him away from everything he knows.

Discounted Price: $0.99 || Regular Price: $3.99

Smashwords


Winner Takes All

**Series: **Harlow Mystery #1

Cover for Winner Takes All. A plethora of palm trees are seen in silhouette against an eerie green sky.

Claris Lam

Mystery

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Bi, Gay, Lesbian

Aubri Harlow thinks she’s found her dream vacation after winning a contest to an exclusive island resort for a whole week. However, her dream quickly turns into a nightmare when her ex-boyfriend Colin, ex-girlfriend Renee, and former university classmate Bastian end up on the same island as fellow contest winners. Even worse? Colin is found dead barely a day into the vacation. Terrible weather prevents the police from arriving on the island to investigate. To keep herself safe, as well as her other companions, Aubri must find out who the killer is…or risk becoming the next target.

Discounted Price: $2.99 || Regular Price: $3.99

Smashwords


In the Eye of the Beholder

Series: Trouvaille #1

Cover for IN the Eye of the Beholder. A single red rose against a black backdrop, the corners are decorated with white filigree.

Beverly Anne Michel

Romance, Cozy, Contemporary

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Asexual, Bi, Gay, Lesbian

In a modern Beauty and the Beast retelling Beau Nicholls is a freelance photographer. She finds herself in need of a temporary job to pay the bills. In desperation, she takes a housekeeping position for a disabled recluse. The recluse in question, Felix Astor, does not want her help, but his cousin hires her anyway.

FREE || Regular Price: $2.99

Smashwords || Itchio


Angels

Cover for Angels. A textured gray backdrop highlights a woman seen from behind, shown in grayscale with wings drawn over her. The only bit of color in the cover is the title itself and the rainbow heart patch on the pants of the woman. The blurb in the corner says It Takes Courage to Find Your Wings

Rachel Churcher

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Young Adult

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Queer

Angels have lived among us for as long as we can remember. They don’t have powers, but they do have wings. They’ve always hidden their wings, and who they are – until Kane. Melodie Abbott remembers the day she saw Kane’s taboo-shattering billboard. A beautiful model showing his wings on Oxford Street, on a photo as tall as a building. When sixteen-year-old Mel finally meets her idol, disaster strikes. Can she find a way to free herself from his shadow, and what will her future hold? ‘Angels’ is a coming-of-age story, a university heartbreak novel with a twist, a celebration of friendship and desire, and an exploration of attraction, identity and self-expression. It takes courage to find your wings …

Discounted Price: $0.99 || Regular Price: $3.99

Smashwords


Zimanges

Cover for Zimanges. Illustrated. A man in a large coat and hands in pockets walks down a creepy alley way, a bright orange handprint on the stone walls the only flash of color.

MC Burnell

Get a free book, Learn to Swim, when you join MC Burnell’s newsletter Fantasy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

Representation: Achillean, Gay

When wizard Jendaiar Phos sets his life on fire on purpose to spite the father who just died, he and his estranged brother are forced to leave their homes. The mother he hasn’t seen in decades left him a house in an infamous city founded by a bandit king, but it’s too big for two people. In search of roommates to help pay bills, he finds instead a new family. Outcasts and rebels just like him who left their homelands for similar reasons. He couldn’t be happier, although life would be easier if they hadn’t just moved into a drafty mansion high in a mountain pass at the start of winter. Then there’s the part where a pile of leaves inhabited by a spirit has tasked this misfit crew with saving their new home from a demon, and even the pile of leaves doesn’t know what a demon IS. They’re going to have to get creative if they mean to save the day. Hopefully, somewhere along the way, they can also find the means to cope with the other problem: 63 West Cedar isn’t furnished.

Discounted Price: $3.5 || Regular Price: $6.99

Smashwords


Silenci

Cover for Silence. Illustrated in Art Nouvae style like a portrait. At the center is stylized drawing of a wolfs head with a circle around it with symbols. Below is an illustration showing the phases of the moon.

R.M. Sayan

Romance, Fantasy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Gay

In Abadosos, nobody speaks of the werewolves—in fact, nobody likes to speak. Joaquím is attacked by a werewolf on a full moon in which he foolishly forgets to take shelter. But he lives to see the light of day, mostly unscathed. Nursed back to health with the help of his friend Zarif and his cousin Remei, he lives on unknowing whether he was bitten or not. But the curse of the lycanthrope proves to be more complex than it appears, and Joaquím begins to doubt not only himself, but those close to him and everything he knows about his hometown. The pressure and paranoia cloud his way, and nobody seems to have answers to his questions. After all, in Abadosos, nobody speaks.

Discounted Price: $0.99 || Regular Price: $1.99

Major Retailers


The Elopement of Atticus & NEON

Cover for The Elopement of Atticus and Neon. Plain cream background with brightly colored illustrations of folowers and leaves.

Series: (Nothing But) Flowers #1

Al Hess

Science Fiction, Romance, Cozy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

Representation: Bi, Queer, Non-binary, Gay, Aromantic, Asexual

In a world slowly unraveling under a gentle apocalypse, NEON—a flower merchant with a brain more AI than human—and Atticus—a shy farmer with fantasies of romance and freedom—are in love. In order to escape Atticus’s controlling stepfather and a community steeped in prejudice, they elope under the cover of night, determined to find a better future. But the road ahead is as uncertain as their plan. Their love and the reluctant blessings of NEON’s eccentric robot family won’t be enough in the face of reality: they’ll need money, they’ll need jobs, and they’ll need a place to call home that accepts the couple’s union. As doubts and fears threaten to ruin their honeymoon before it’s even begun, NEON and Atticus must learn to trust not just each other but the rhythm of a world that may still hold a place for two unlikely lovers.

Regular Price: $1.99

Smashwords || Itchio


The Edge of a World

Cover for The Edge of the World. Illustrated. Two adventurers stand on the edge of a cliff and look down at a giant city situated at the bottom of the cliff.

Series: Otar’s Universe #1

JD Rivers

Science Fiction, Fantasy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Gay, Bi, Trans masc, Non-binary

A scholar on a journey. A monster in his veins. An unbending truth. One wrong step and the monster in Otar’s veins kills. To find the truth about himself and the world he lives in Otar goes on a journey that will not only change his own life, but also for those closest to him. featuring: third chances at love, queer characters, ancient ruins, romance side plot, roadtrip.

Discounted Price: $0.99 || Regular Price: $3.99

Smashwords


Awakenings

Cover for Awakenings. Three adventurers stand outside of a horseless wagon on a desert road. Before them, built into a butte, is a multileveld city, each part of the city under a large dome.

Series: Chronicles of Nerezia #1

Claudie Arseneault

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Fantasy, Cozy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Asexual. Non-binary. Queer. Aromantic

Despite dozens of apprenticeships with eir city’s clans, Horace has never found somewhere to belong to—not until eir trial run as a guard, when the terrifying, soul-possessing shards that haunt the world broke through the city’s protective dome, only to be dismissed to vapor by a mysterious elf through a single phrase: your story is my story. It is eir story, too, Horace knows it in eir guts—the most trustable part of eir body. After an afternoon of caring for the recovering elf and playing board games in their quiet, sharp-witted company, Horace is ready to follow them across the world, to the forest that haunts their dreams. Awakenings is the first of nine novellas in a fantasy adventure blending cozy fantasy vibes and D&D style side-questing, imbued with an aspec-focused queernormative world and strong platonic bonds.

Discounted Price $1.99 || Regular Price: $3.99

Smashwords


The Fall that Saved Us

Cover for The Fall that Saved Us. A demon with black wings and a red dress and horns reaches down as she falls from the sky. Below her is an angel, alos falling, with a dagger in her hand, reaching up towards the demon. Illustrated.

Tamara Jerée

Paranormal, Romance

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation: Lesbian

Cassiel has given up the family tradition of demon hunting, leaving behind her sacred angelic duty and fated sword. What she can’t leave behind are the scars. To cope, she spends her days immersed in work, pouring all her attention into New Haven Books, her small bookstore and anchor in the new world she’s carved for herself. But the past hasn’t let go of Cassiel yet. When a succubus named Avitue arrives to claim her angel-touched soul, Cassiel’s old hunter instincts flare, forcing her to choose between old knowledge and her truth. What should be a fatal seduction becomes a bargain neither woman expects. As they grow closer, Avitue is surprised to find her own pain reflected in Cassiel, a nephilim deemed fallen by her own family’s standards. By choosing trust, they reveal the lies that bind them. Falling for each other begins a path towards healing. But exorcising the effects of trauma is harder than naming it, and to explore the unfettered possibility Avitue represents, Cassiel must find a way to reclaim and redefine her angelic heritage.

Discounted Price: $2.99 || Regular Price: $5.99

Smashwords || Elsewhere


Cinders of Yesterday

Cover for Cinders of Yesterday. Two women stand back to back, each turning their head over their shoulders to look at the other. One is surrounded by flames and the other holds a glowing dagger.

Jen Karner

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Fantasy, Horror, Romance

Representation: Lesbian, Bisexual,

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

A medium who doesn’t remember magic. A hunter seeking revenge. Necromancers only want you for your body in Cinders of Yesterday.

Itchio || Kobo || BN || Amazon || Smashwords

Regular Price: $2.99


A Lake of Feathers and Moonbeams

Cover for A Lake of Feathers and Moonbeams. Three figures stand on the edge of a lake in a dark forest while two swans fly overhead under the full moon.

Dax Murray

Fantasy

Representation: Lesbian, Bisexual, Non-binary

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

The forest witch is not meant to fall in love with the princess she is keeping prisoner. A queer retelling of Swan Lake.

Smashwords

Discounted Price: $3.74 || Regular Price: $4.99


There are plenty more books on sale at Smashwords this week, so I encourage you to check it out! Before we sign off, we wanted to also let you know about a way to get NINE free books!

Cozies for Disability: Support Disabled People. Disabled people should have the right to equal access to education, health care, and other services. In the US, Section 504 and telehealth are under assault. . Contact your representatives in support of disabled rights and receive the ebooks below! https://lynnstrong.com/bundles The books: The Siren’s Cursed Kiss by Kat Kinney, Chai and Cat-tales:, Priye by Lynn Strong, The Rose Bridge by Steph Shangraw, Coffee, Milk & Spider Silk by Coyote J. M. Edwards, The Tale That Twines by Cedar McCloud, A Twist of Faerie by K. M. Jackways, Courage is the Price by S. L. Dove Cooper, Haroun’s Market of Wonders by Lynn Strong (only available here!), The Soul from the Supernova by A. M. Hart, Cozies for Disability: Support Disabled People.  Disabled people should have the right to equal access to education, health care, and other services. In the US, Section 504 and telehealth are under assault. Contact your representatives in support of disabled rights and receive the ebooks below!

You can get multiple books of the cozy variety by contacting your elected officials and asking them to stand up for disability rights.

Step 1: Contact your government representatives in support of disabled people's rights

Step 2: Send a screenshot or email to cozybookbundle@gmail.com

Step 3: We'll send you 9 free cozy ebooks featuring disabled characters. Act, rest, repeat!

I asked Lynn Strong if the books had queer rep and was told that many of them do!

The Rose Bridge by Steph Shangraw: The main character is trans and there are two same-sex couples (MM and FF).

The Tale That Twines by Cedar McCloud: MC is agender and demisexual/demiromantic.

Courage is the Price by S. L. Dove Cooper: MC is lesbian and her new friend is trans. No romance.

Coyote's Coffee Milk and Spider Silk: LGBTQ+ rep throughout.

Priye by Lynn Strong: MC is ace, other characters are aroace, demi, pan, and trans.

Haroun’s Market of Wonders by Lynn Strong: Main character is grey aroace/demi, as well as pan and gay rep.

Six out of nine of the books have awesome queer rep, and you can get them for free! This is not limited to the United States, although the call to action highlights ableist actions being taken in the United States, it is meant to be world-wide call for people to stand up for disability rights.

That’s all for this week! Don’t forget to check our booking page if you want to see your book highlighted here, too!

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The second ever “New Release Round Up” and we couldn’t be happier! February might be the shortest month, but it had a good amount of new releases! If you have a release coming out in March that you want us to highlight, please checkout the booking page!


No Experience Necessary

Book cover for No Experience Nexessary. A man stands in a workshop, leaning against a counter, open shirt with suspenders, thumbs hooked into his pockets.

Alex Pendragon

Join Alex’s mailing list for a free short story!

Romance

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation: Gay

Eighteen and desperate for work, Jake's prospects seem dire. Fate lands him a job, along with his first, confusing attraction to another man. Ashton's confident and ambitious, but as wary of their 7 year age gap as he is of Jake's inexperience. Can a relationship coexist with the expectations of Jake's community, or would it have been better had neither man realized his true desires?

Release Date: 2025-02-09

Regular Price: $4.99

Direct || Itchio || Elsewhere

Content Warnings:

It's high-heat and entirely open door. Some coming-out tension between the MC and his disapproving mother (which is largely resolved by the end).


The Hand That Feeds

Cover for the Hand that Feeds. A woman in a plain, cotton dress stands in profile, one hand reaching behind her back, neck turned to face the camera.

Sass Everett

Fantasy, Romance

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation: Bi, Queer

Ten years ago, Corin was King Starling's most trusted personal guard and Lady Yolantha's beloved. Once, he had dreams of marrying his lover and standing beside his king as they ushered in a new era of peace. But after a sudden betrayal, Corin was forced into a life of exile. Ten years later, an unexpected message from the king brings hope for a new life and a new chance at love... as long as Corin is willing to meet his demands. But Corin is not so easily bought, nor will he forgive the past so soon.

Regular Price: 1.99

B&N || Amazon || Kobo || Apple || Elsewhere

Release Date: 2025-02-14

Content Warnings:

Discussion of infertility and pregnancy.


The Smith

A dark castle is visible in the background with looming turrets and towers, in front is a ghostly figure holding with the title text also outlined in an unnerving misty glow

Marine St. Jean

Historical, Fantasy, Romance

Representation: Lesbian

Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Ama has been on the run from the people who destroyed her life. Moving quickly is all you can expect as a merchant with unnatural passions in 9th C France. Now a village needs her skills, and a woman her heart. Will she be able to choose love or put them all in danger?

Amazon

Release date: 2025/14/02

Content Warnings:

Themes of racism, homophobia, abuse, abandonment, cultural estrangement moderate violence, graphic lesbian sex


Silver Blood

Cover for Silver Blood. An ornate gold frame highlights the two men in formal wear reaching towards each other, one is pale and has long silver hair, the other is holding a book in one hand

T. L. Morgan

Follow T. L. Morgan on BlueSky

Gothic Romance

Representation: Gay, Trans, Bi, Queer

Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

SILVER BLOOD is a gothic romance about the son of a famous vampire hunter on a mission to end the cycle of violence his family perpetrates. Alongside the heir to an elite vampire family, he seeks a way to save vampires from turning monstrous.

Itchio || Amazon || Bookshop

Release Date: 2025/11/02

Regular Price: $4.99

Content Warnings:

Blood, violence, and mild body horror; death of siblings and parents; depictions of emotional and physical abuse by family; drinking of blood; mentions of self harm and suicide; off-page suicide attempt; animal (horse) death.


Yelen & Yelena

Cover for Yelen and Yelena. A woman among flowers stares ahead inquisitively while in a dark forest.

C. M. Rosens

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Dark Fantasy

Representation: Aromantic, Bisexual, Sapphic, Achillean, Non-binary

YELEN & YELENA is a standalone dark Gothic Fantasy with strong elements of body horror, described as a monster-loving 'tour de force', perfect for fans of Beauty and the Beast re-imaginings, Mexican Gothic, and What Moves The Dead.

Itch || KoFi || Elsewhere

Regular Price: $4.99

Release Date: 2025/14/02

Content Warnings:

Family deaths; frequent suicide ideation; on-page violent suicide and murder; implied SA mention; depression; depersonalisation and derealisation; social ostracism; eviction; some body horror related to the rot (fungal infections, fruiting bodies, etc).


The Myriad of Simon Hansen

Cover for the Myriad of Simon Hanson. A man stands atop a tall pile of book, shown in silhouette.

SCH

Romance

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️

Representation (Main Character): Gay, Achillean, Bi

“What if The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole had been written by an American in 1990s Ireland with a found family, a nervous taste for other guys, and a bad case of insomnia? “Tam is convinced he saw a nymph today. I saw her too, and nymph isn’t that far off the mark as a comparison, but Tam’s got it in his head that she’s a nymph maybe in the folkloric sense as well. What is definite—what we can both agree on—is that neither of us has ever seen anyone like her before.” When Simon and his pal stumble across a young woman with a dark past, life at their Dublin bookshop changes forever. Devoted to his Irish crew—and grateful to them for helping him escape his own bleak background—Simon puts more focus on making their dreams come true than he does on overcoming the trauma he’s still locked in, one that keeps him isolated in the middle of a growing crowd. He’s getting to know himself better through his journal entries, though—the ones no one else is ever allowed to read.”

Regular Price: $4.99

Itchio || Gumroad

Read the rest of the series

Release Date: 2025-02-04

Content Warnings:

Parental neglect; homophobic attitude among certain side characters; depiction of anxiety symptoms; depiction of drug use (marijuana) Brief mention of past confinement, sexual assault, home invasion and violence


Scene

Cover for Scene. A band in strong stage lighting stands naked with his hand in front of his throat. OVerlaid is a neon take-board from film sets

J. Tomala

Contemporary Romance

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation: Gay, Bi, Queer, Pansexual

Adam discovers his dominant tendencies, Sebastian loves to be put in his places, and Chris just found out he might be pansexual and way in over his head. Adam landed his dream job as a hair and make-up artist on the hit show KaPow! The eye candy could not be better, and being friends with the stars of the show has its perks too. The only problem is his crush on Chris and his need to take apart Sebastian Winter. Adam’s always been intuitive, and the vibes coming from Sebastian are hard to ignore. He can’t help but imagine how the man would look on his knees waiting for Adam’s orders. But before Adam can make his move, Chris makes his. In his 31 years on this planet, Chris had never been in this situation before. Meaning: wanting to get into another man’s pants so badly. But there is something so alluring about Sebastian Winter. His fingers itch to take him apart every time they’re together lately. Sebastian’s career is going great, but his love life is a mess. Hooking up with your make-up artist, who’s ten years younger, in a sex club could not be called the greatest decision ever. Especially when you’re kind, sort of dating your costar, who had never shown any interest in men before. Choosing would be the adult option, but he can’t. Adam satisfies his every sexual need like no other Dom had ever before, and Chris looks at him like he hung the moon. He knows that he can’t keep these two sides of his life separate forever, but is afraid of what will happen if they crash into each other. Will he lose them both or gain everything he ever wanted?

Regular Price: 2,99

Amazon

Release Date: 2025-02-28

Scene is the first book in a series of interconnected stand alone stories.

Content Warnings:

D/s, stalking from an ex


Mela Súle

Cover for Mela Sule. Three cat-people chat in the woods under a crescent moon. Furthest left is sitting in a wheelchair with silver/gray hair and a scarf. The next has matching silver hair and looks on in anxiety. The third is clearly excited about something and clutching their hands in front of them. The last is seated wearing a military style jacket and sipping on a hot drink.

Astrid Abell

Young Adult, Fantasy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Asexual. Aromantic, Queer

It's Kaedan Beservera's first Mela Súle in a wheelchair. And, without his mother. With his father and grandfather both sick, this year's celebration will only be spent with his child, Inarora. As Kaeden worries he will disappoint his daughter, the two stumble upon a foreign family enjoying Mela Súle for the first time. It will be a memorable winter holiday season for all.

Itchio

Release Date: 2025-02-18

Content Warnings:

Brief mentions of war, brutal injuries, and death.


Men in Focus: A M/M Romance Anthology

Cover for Men in Focus. A slightly out of focus photo of a man that is naked, with soft pink lighting

Rena Butler

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Romance, Science Fiction, Contemporary

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation: Gay, Bi

Six stunning, steamy, and sassy M/M romances — now available in one anthology. From a hurricane in Florida to a diplomatic mission in outer space to the Wild West, this is a collection of stories with Rena Butler’s trademark humor and heat. Gathered together for the first time, Men in Focus is a romantic romp with characters who are flawed, funny, deeply human, and always loveable.

Regular Price: 7.99

Direct from Author || Elsewhere

Release Date: 2025-02-14

Content Warnings:

Some period-era racial language & homophobia in the Western story “The Heir and the Outlaw”


Rainsquall

Cover for Rainsquall. A man is consummed by smoke from a fire that is behind him. IT is a dark night and the smoke has a threatening aura as it wraps around the man.

Penny Moss

Romance, Fantasy, Historical

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation: Gay, Demisexual

Lone shepherd Folke is content to drift through life without the hassle of others. Yet his quiet days come to a thunderous end when a storm forces three enigmatic men to seek refuge in his secluded cottage. Suddenly, Folke’s world is crowded with all the things he worked to avoid, while opening up to many alluring possibilities. Warm skin, shared breaths, and the caress of lips beguile him into what he knows will lead to heartbreak. Each day he grows closer to the men is another day until their inevitable departure—and to secrets that could change all he knows.

Regular Price: $5.99 USD

Release Date: 2025-02-21

Amazon

Content Warnings:

“Mentions of animal death (sheep) and mentions of a dog passing, discussions of parental death, vague suicidal ideation, strong sexual content, foul language, British spelling, overarching themes of depression, violence”


Red, like my bleeding heart in your hand

Two figures sit on the edge of a cliff overlooking a patch of trees, slightly out of focus. Cover for Red like my bleeding heart in your hand.

Sarah B. Elisa

Romance, Contemporary

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🍭

Representation: Gay, Bi

Theodore Spinoza was crying the first time Nash ever saw him. With the principal's hand on his shoulder, she explained that Teddy was new to the school, new to the community, and needed their help to adjust. Everybody knew that only meant to not tease him about his red face and the streaks of snot on his sleeves. At that moment, looking at Teddy all sad and soppy with his sharp chin tipped up anyway, Nash made a decision. With all his six years of worldliness and wisdom, Nash decided no way did he want anything to do with that snot-faced kid. Not when he was already in charge of keeping his snot-faced sister right and happy, and not with Daddy's fits of violence already taking up more than their fair share of his concern. Theodore Spinoza was on his own. It's funny how life can take a decision like that and twist it into something precious and unexpected.

Multiple Retailers

Regular Price: 0.99

This book is part of the Wildflowers of Deliverance series. Read the rest of the series.

Release Date: 2025-02-19

Content Warnings:

Child abuse


The Powers That Be

Cover for The Powers that Be, illustrated. A masked heroine crouches in the streets of a city, poised to strike. A purple flame rises over the horizon behind her, the flames have two large eyes inside of them.

Temple Hart

Science Fiction, Contemporary, Romance

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

Representation: Lesbian

Dr. Peril is a melodramatic supervillainess out to rule the world. Her nemesis, Diamond, is a kindly Midwestern gal who can lift a truck. Clearly, they're meant for each other. Too bad their employer, the Department of Unnatural Powers, disagrees and will do anything to keep them apart.

Regular Price: $5.99

Kobo || Amazon || BN || Apple

Release Date: 2025-02-11

This is the first book in a planned series.

Content Warnings:

Violence, sexual harassment, attempted sexual assault (thwarted)


My Obedient Girlfriend: A Lesbian BDSM Erotica

Cover for My Obedient Girlfriend. A woman with a leotard stands in profile, one hand raised above her head and another held under her chin, her hip popped out seductively.

Inanna Black

Contemporary, Erotica

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Representation : Sapphic, Lesbian

I love to dominate my girlfriend—and she loves to submit to me. When I discover her weakness for whipped cream, I find a new, delicious way to test her obedience. She’s hungry, and she’s going to get her fill. Today, I am her tasty treat. And if she’s a good girl, I’ll reward her handsomely for her service.

Amazon

Regular Price: 2.99

Release Date: 2025-02-02

Content Warnings:

BDSM, explicit sex between women, edging, bondage


Under the Light of the New Moon

Cover for Under the Light of the New Moon. A dark creepy forest with an overlay of a representation of the phases of the moon.

Kris Madigan

Follow Kris Madigan on Itch and get a free short story.

Contemporary, Fantasy

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️

Representation: Lesbian, Sapphic

The lights go out every new moon, blanketing the small town of Ashbury in darkness. Erin is restless to leave and start a new life in the city, but is tied to a dead-end job and a grandmother no closer to death than she. On the night of one particular new moon, she finds something more than she could have ever hoped in a mysterious woman who comes to visit.

Itchio

Regular Price: $2.50

Release Date: 2025-02-19

Content Warnings:

“Sexual content, vibes of blood-related rituals”


User Not Found

Cover for User Not Found. A swirl of 1s and 0s loops around a computer that is rather boxy and looks out of place. The computer has some static interference over it.

Dani Finn

Science Fiction, Dystopian

Representation: Trans, Non-binary, Lesbian

Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Jack works for the Censorship Bureau of the Incorporated States, scanning transgressive fics for clues to the identities of the authors. It's a shit job, and it's getting to him. He finds himself unnaturally drawn in by transgressive a fic by UserNotFound26A6. He can't stop thinking about it and about the author he's nicknamed Oomf. He should just turn them in and be done with it, but his curiosity must be satisfied. What he discovers at the used bookstore where the fic was posted will change him forever. This 12,000-word dystopian short story is set in a not-too-distant future that is by turns bleak and oddly hopeful.

Itchio || Elsewhere

Regular Price: $2.00

Release Date: 2025-19-02

Content Warnings

This story is meant for adult audiences and contains drinking, drug use, societal transphobia, and explicit, consensual sex scenes.


Reborn at the Shores of Awakening

Illustrated cover for the Wonders of Mundus 1: Reborn on the Shores of Awakening. A foxgirl in adventuring clothing stands in a sea of water and stars next to the wreckage of a boat. A villainess with starwberry earings cackles, the back of her hand held to the side of her mouth.

Talia Elliott Belser

Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery

Spiciness / Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️

Representation: Lesbian, Queer, Trans, Non-binary

Official Paperback Release!

A closeted transgender woman is about to get way too into her favorite MMO. It's 2047, and our protagonist wakes up face-down in the sands of the Shores of Awakening – a starter area of their favorite VRMMO, Another World Online: Mundane Phantasy Historia – as avatar Deedee Yeowoo, a foxgirl healer. Something's wrong – she can't log out, and as part of the late-game raiding guild Dungeon-Crawling And Chill, shouldn't be at first level. Moreover, she's not alone – at least some of her friends in the guild, as well as the innocent newbie and streamer Ace Striker, are along for the ride. How can they survive such an adventure friendly – which is to say, violent and monster-filled – world? Why are they here? And why does this avatar feel more comfortable to Deedee Yeowoo's player than her real life body ever did?”

Discounted Via IngramSpark

Regular Price: 19.95 Discounted Price: 14.95

This is the first book in the Wonders of Mundus series

Release Date: 2025-02-28

Content Warnings:

“Violence, transphobia”


A very happy release month to all who put out a new book, serial, novella, or other form of queer lit this month! Next month, we will be celebrating Trans Visibility Day in addition to our regular weekly discount posts and our end of the month round ups. You can sign up for all of them at our booking website. Don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an issue!

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Another week of awesome queer literature at affordable prices delivered straight to your inbox! Thanks so much for all the support of this little newsletter and of the authors we have featured! We also don’t want you to miss out if you’re a sapphic reader—tomorrow is the Year of Queer Lit Sapphic Stuff Your Kindle Event with dozens of sapphic books on sale!

While waiting for tomorrow, you should check out the books we have here today, including some amazing scholarly work, sexy paranormal serials, and a fairy tale told in verse!

✨ Book of the Week ✨

Trans/Rad/Fem

Cover for Trans / Rad / Fem by Talia Bhatt. A woman with dark hair is wrapped in a cowl against a red backdrop. She has make up on her forhead showing symbols and make up under her eyes that gives the appearance of tears. Overlaid is the title in all caps in serif font. "Essays on Transfeminism" is written at the top.

Talia Bhatt

Join Talia Bhatt’s Newsletter to stay up to date

Non-fiction, Social Sciences, Transfeminism

Spice Level: “Well, it’s a spicy book, but not for reasons of sex…” – Talia Bhatt

Representation: Trans Lesbian

This series of essays aims to reconstruct and reintroduce the radical feminist framework that its misbegotten inheritors seem determined to forget and in doing so boldly makes the claim that transfeminism, far from being antagonistic to radical feminism, is in fact its direct descendant. It shows how a comprehensive social theory of transsexual oppression flows almost naturally from radical feminist precepts and dares to declare that a materialist, radical transfeminism is the way forward to seize the foundations of patriarchy at the root.

Itchio || Amazon

Ebook: $5.99


Grace of Sorcerers

A woman with a lacy balck and red dress and gold leaves across her body and face leans forward in profile. The title is overlaid in bold sans-serif font. Cover for The Grace of Sorcerers by Maria Ying.

Maria Ying

Urban Fantasy

Representation: Trans, Lesbian

Spice Level: 🌶🌶🌶

A lesbian warlock summons an ancient, beautiful demon in her quest to avenge her mother. Rep: Trans women, lesbians, Chinese characters, Turkish character Spice level on a scale of candy to 5 peppers: 3 peppers Link to a cover file for your work:

Itchio || Amazon || Kobo || Elsewhere

Ebook: $4.99

PS: If you enjoy Maria Ying’s work, there is currently an Itchio bundle—Monsters, Mecha and Greek Myth—for Maria Ying’s novel The Hades Calculus as well as multiple authorized / official fan works, including a full color art book!


Gender Vampires Collection

Cover for Gender Vampires Collection. A swirld of red mist and sparkles envelopes a golden chalice engraved with the image of grapes on a vine. On the corners, gold filgree accents. The text is in fancy serif font.

Inilia Chayre

Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance

Representation: Trans, Lesbian

Spice Level: 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶

This is a series of short stories about lesbian vampires and their trans partner(s). Lots of focus will be on the intimacy between all parties involved, which may or may not include sex.

ScribbleHub

Free


Heaven and Hell Came Crashing Down Around UsCover for Heaven and Hell Came Crashing Down Around Us. Three candles are lit in a dark room next to an open bible and rosary. A whoip of smoke curls around the frilly lettering for the title.

Inilia Chayre

Paranormal, Romance, Fantasy

Representation: Lesbian

Spice Level: 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶

When a young woman is faced with a medical bill for an immediate treatment she has no hope of paying, she turns to a tome her old friend gave her and summons a demon to make a deal. But is that really the end of the contract? Or will she find something more?

Scribble Hub

Free


Song of the Dryads

Cover for Song of the Dryads. A humonoid figure stands in the middle of a butterfly filled field strumming a stringed instrument. Rather than a neck or head, a tree sprouds from the shoulders of the dryad.

Bailey Saxon

Follow Bailey Saxon on Patreon for the latest updates and news

Fantasy

Representation: Trans

Spice Level: 🌶🌶

Gayle is a lonely man. A strong and well respected one, but alone nonetheless. He decides to put this strength to good use and investigate a string of suspicious hunter deaths. Each case reeked of foul play from more experienced hunters, numerous newbies going missing after going on request to gather materials from the forest with them. He ventures in, the determination to save who he can overriding his fear.

Bianca, the new girl in the forest, has a dark secret that she can't let a single Dryad in their secluded sequoia grotto know. They all love and respect her, but she worries that kindness could disappear all in a matter of seconds. Dryads are known for their affinity to nature, so she strives to make herself indispensable by helping everyone out. They saved her from being alone, and she can't tell them why or she may lose the community she so desperately wanted all along.

Itchio

Ebook: $1

PS: Baily Saxon is one of the authors included in the Monsters, Mecha and Greek Myth Bundle!


Cheerleaders from Planet X

Cover for Cheerleaders from Planet X. A cheerleader in her uniform stands facing a flying saucer hovering in an open field. She has a weapon in her hands hidden behind her back.

Lyssa Chiavari

Join Lyssa Chiavari’s newsletter for updates and more!

Science Fiction

Representation: Lesbian

Spice Level: 🍭

A tongue-in-cheek cross between Marvel comics and Space Invaders, CHEERLEADERS FROM PLANET X is a zany, quirky and snark-filled send-up of just about every sci-fi trope known to humankind—with 100% more lesbians.

Direct from Author || Kobo || Amazon || Elsewhere

Ebook: $3.99


Failure to Communicate

Cover for Failure to Communicate. Two hominids, one human, another not human, stand in the brush of a strange world, crouching over a rivulette of water, staring at each other in confusion.

Kaia Sønderby

Science Fiction

Representation: Biromantic, Lesbian

Spice Level: 🍭

As the autistic head of the Carpathia’s Xeno-Liaison department, Xandri has become an expert in peaceful first contacts and convincing sapient species to join the Starsystems’ Alliance. The Anmerilli, however, are as xenophobic as they come… and they are developing a powerful weapon that caught both the attention of the Alliance and their bitter enemies. This time, Xandri’s mission is wrought with politics and the consequences of failure may well be genocide for the Anmerilli.

Amazon

Ebook: $2.99


The Ice Princess’s Fair Illusion

Two princesses in lacey gowns stand next to each other, leaning into one another and clasping hands.

S. L. Dove Cooper

Fantasy, Poetry, Cozy

Representation: Aromantic, Asexual, Sapphic

Spice Level: 🍭

Marian never wanted to get married, but then Marian's father promises he'll force her to wed the first beggar to arrive at the palace gates in a fit of pique. Edel only came to strengthen political ties, but she finds herself drawn to the haughty girl and determines to save her. This sapphic, queerplatonic retelling of King Thrushbeard is told in free verse.

Itchio || Amazon || Kobo || Elsewhere

Ebook: $4.99


Stars and Soil

Cover for Stars and Soil. Golden filigree and red tiger lilies line the cover with a dagger piercing and shattering a crwon at the center

Dax Murray

Sign up for Dax’s Newsletter to get a free novella!

Representation: Lesbian, Non-binary

Spice Level: 🌶🌶🌶

The prince demands Caitlin's hand, but an earl's daughter claims her heart. With power at court ever-shifting, rebellion roiling in the streets, and ancient evils lurking in the shadows, will Caitlin be a pawn or a queen in this dangerous game of revolution and love?

Itchio || Kobo || Amazon || Elsewhere

Ebook: $0.99 – Regularly $5.99. On sale through 2/26/2025 as part of the Year of Queer Lit Sapphic Stuff Your Kindle Event.


ARC CORNER

“ARCs” are “Advanced Reader Copies.” ARC copies of books are usually given out for free ahead of release! These authors are currently looking for readers who would like to read their books before anyone else and leave an honest review on book or retailer websites. You don’t have to be a professional book reviewer to be an ARC reader. If you can leave 3 or 4 sentences on a website, you can be an ARC reader! You get a free book, and you help out a queer author!

Riyati Rivals

Cover for the ARC edition of Riyati Rivals. A glowing orange piral opens to show am emblem with extensive glyphs and magical symbols. The title is written in a combination of fancy handwriting font and exaggerated serif font. Arc Edition: Available May 15 2025.

Kai Zeal

Contemporary, Fantasy

Spice Levels: 🌶🌶

Representation: Asexual, Demisexual, Lesbian

Scheduled Release: May 2025

What would you sacrifice to alter an already guaranteed future?

The new school year has begun in the quiet town of Opal Pines, and with it, new problems for Kylie and Jordan: Kylie’s mother barely lets her out of sight, and Jordan’s new friend makes it clear he’s no fan of Kylie. Even their older selves are at odds with each other: Siani refuses to intervene in the events to come; meanwhile, Rotanu is not sure the ends justify the means needed to get there. To make matters even worse, a familiar woman from the June kidnapping is back and wants Kylie’s head.

What happens when the past is painful and still seeks vengeance, the present is lonely, and the future uncertain? Riyati Rivals is the second book of a new adult/adult contemporary, low dark fantasy series that seeks to explore themes of identity, legacy, the greater good, and finding your own path in life. The Riyati series includes multiple first person perspectives and multiple queer characters (currently including demisexual/romantic and lesbian representation with more to come in future books), set in the modern day United States.

ARC readers will also be provided with a complimentary copy of the first book, Riyati Rebirth.

Sign up for the ARC.


Shades of Spring

Trope Graphic showing the cover for Shades of Spring (a crown and roses with vine accents). Fantasy Novel. Secret Heirs. Hidden Supernatural World. Epic Fantasy. Queer as Fuck. Betrayals and Misunderstandings. Morally Grey Characters. Prophecies and Mystical Creatures. First In Series.

Niranjan

Fantasy

Representation: Queer

Spice Level: 🌶

Scheduled Release: May 2025

A dangerous prophecy, the survival of a whole world at stake.

A prophecy spoken by the Halvard Seer before his death warns of the end of the world, one which will come to pass unless the Halvard, Cailern, and Wizards can work together to prevent it. But the Halvard and Cailern had never seen eye to eye and the Halvard Chief, Leymon, has a past with the Cailern queen, Sylvania, that he cannot let go of.

Sylvania and her husband, Bresson have kept the Cailern united for years, but when they receive a message from the wizards, their hard won peace is about to end. Worse, secrets that Sylvania has kept for years are in danger of coming to light, threatening the foundations of their peace with the Halvard.

When creatures from the prophecy attack and fatally injure Bresson, only Leymon has the power to save him. But can he let go of past hurts and betrayals to save him or will he risk the fragile alliance with the Cailern and condemn the world to destruction?

Shades of Spring is an epic fantasy novel and the first in the Shades of Spring series. If you like world ending stakes, magic, mysterious prophecies, hidden identities, flawed characters and emotional conflicts, you will enjoy this book.

Sign up to recieve an ARC copy for free!


I hope you found your next favorite read and filled your TBR with some amazing queer literature! We’ll be back here again on the last day of February with our New Release Round-Up.

Are you an author and want to see your book here, too? Check out our Booking Page to get your book on our list! We have slots open for our weekly newsletter, new release round-ups, ARC corners, and special events such as our Trans Visibility event on March 31st!

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